Shattered Light
by i luv niki4444
Summary: The most dangerous monster in the game, the... trump card if you will. What if this beast was actually another player? - This story has been revised.
1. Her Mission

**Chapter 1: Her Mission -Rewritten**

 _i luv niki4444_

Before the story begins I would like to preface that, while most (if not all) of the original scenes will still be in this story, they will likely be caused by different scenarios. Over the last year my writing style has changed drastically, and for the first few chapters I'll try to hide that through the pretense of my previous style. However, as Kagome changes as a person the style this story is written in will also change.

So, if you're still here and still interested thanks so much for sticking around! I hope you enjoy this fic and I'd love to hear from you if you'd be so kind as to leave a review or PM me. :)

 _Written June 10th, 2015_

* * *

Kagome Higurashi had many opportunities to question how people would remember her after she was gone. On her thirteenth birthday, she fell down a well only to land 500 years in the past… and doing so set off a chain of events that rocked the very balance of Life and Death.

Many times, she had almost died, and many times she prevailed – but this time, Kagome Higurashi had very little hope for survival. A sad fact, and one that currently plagued her mind, bringing forth the age old question – _How will people_ _ **remember**_ _me?_

With a smile, she certainly hoped, and maybe even a fold recollection.

Her hand trailed gently over the hard surface of the iron plated door that kept her locked inside her prison. Then, she turned and faced the bed placed in the far corner of the room, overlooking a window tinted so darkly that the fierce afternoon sun could not shine a ray inside.

She trudged her way to the bed and plopped down heavily, her feet bounced as she shot a firm glare at the picture occupying the nearby nightstand. It wasn't a photo that deserved such a harsh look, what with the happy family inside looking so content, but it only served to remind Kagome of what she had lost.

Her father had never been much of a family man. He was too focused on his work, on his game, to really pay much attention to his loving wife and children. He left shortly after her younger brother, Souta's, third birthday, leaving her mother to take care of two little humans.

It was difficult for Mia Higurashi, and Kagome knew that she was not much of a help. The two children her mother was faced with raising were mischievous, and Mia was already dealing with the heartbreak left in her husband's wake.

There was relative peace for the next year, but that crumpled when her father started an argument that turned into an angry custody battle lasting two years. In the end, her mother won out, but she and Souta had spent many weeks going back and forth from mother to father – a very difficult situation for any child.

And inside that picture, which lay so innocently on the bedside table, was an image taken before it all.

A light, courteous knock interrupted her reverie, and in stepped a tall man with dark hair and mundane features. He looked the same now, 16 years later, as he did in the photograph. Her father glanced around, and although he was seemingly unfazed by his surroundings, muttered, "Interesting mood."

If he noticed the picture behind her, he made no comment. "I trust you've been comfortable?" he replied evenly, using the same whispery quality he had once pointed out darling hair ribbons with. It was a natural tone for him, but she still resented the memories that swept through her uneasy mind.

Her fist clenched, and her bare feet pressed stiffly into the floorboards.

They stood like that for a moment, as his eyes ran over her face and analyzed her posture, then, he gave a quiet sigh. "This room is virtually modified by your subconscious. Every facet of this was decided by you, and for you… I cannot change what you want to experience."

As if to prove his point, his gaze locked onto the picture behind her.

She stood, "A prison is still a prison, even if you _do_ allow your prisoner to redecorate." She grumbled, "Just let me out already!"

She was silent as he approached her, and she tilted her chin up slightly, "I want you to help me."

Another twinge of anger leapt into her throat, wild and fleeting, as he blindly pushed the bangs of his forehead to the side in the same manner of his son. The son that he abandoned. Without a doubt he wasn't even aware Souta had adopted that habit.

"Help you?" she snorted, and her eyes narrowed fiercely, "Nice joke! You're going to let me go, or you're going to leave. I'm _sick_ of these games dad!"

"You are trapped here until all 100 levels are cleared." As he spoke, he walked around her and gently picked up the picture, "As you know, your log out disappeared when you entered this world. The same will occur for everyone when the final player has stepped into SAO."

"You created this game, I _know_ you can fix that." She stubbornly crossed her arms, but the expression on his face unnerved her greatly. Kagome didn't know how to feel. She was angry, that much was certain. She wanted more than anything to push him from her room and continue her lonely existence until he realized it was useless holding her here.

Yet, another part of her – a very small part - still believed that a sliver of good existed within him, and that he wouldn't go through with this atrocity.

"It's too late for that. You are the 100th floor boss, and the game registers you as a piece of it." He admitted quietly, "Which leaves you with two choices. Help me, or stay in this room until the players have beaten the game."

The news caused a lump to gather in her throat, but it felt artificial. Likely, that was the result of being a virtual person whom was made of pixels rather than flesh. She begrudgingly acknowledged the brilliance of her father's virtual design, never-the-less. When she was young, he often said that such things are simply done, but as a game creator herself she knew the truth. He was a genius –insane, but a genius.

And this crazy, brilliant man was telling her she would be left to rot in a room until 10,000 players reached level 100. Taking into account that 1,000 players had reached level six at two months with her prior knowledge of the lower levels… and 999 players reached level eight a month after that without it…

By those calculations, it would take over two and a half years to finish the game… and she had already spent the last month of beta testing in this room. No way could she take being cooped up in a small room for that long. "What would I have to do if I agreed to help?"

"Not a lot." The barest smile passed fleetingly, "I need you to befriend a fellow player who goes by 'Kirito'. That is all."

"Why?" Dread began to bubble pitifully in her stomach –another sequence he had mastered quite well- as he smiled fleetingly.

"All in good time."

* * *

In 2022, humanity has finally…

… Created a completely virtual environment.

* * *

There was nothing special about Kazuto Kirigaya; he had never done above average in school, nor had he excelled at sports – very seldom was he involved in extracurricular activities.

His hair and eyes were both dark, and though he considered himself passably handsome, he had been mistaken for a girl on multiple occasions. All in all, there was nothing remarkable about his appearance.

Average, ordinary, Kazuto Kirigaya.

Yet, as mundane as he appeared, he had one talent that stood out… something that he excelled in and enjoyed so greatly that he spent most of his time doing it.

Kazuto loved video games, and for this reason, he was currently hunched over a gaming catalog, and ignoring his school transcript.

On the TV behind his occupied table, a news lady was chatting on ecstatically, "It's time for this week's MMO stream!" she exclaimed, "We began with a promotional video – was this the day of last week's launch?" As she spoke, the screen shifted to show thousands of people lined up around the globe, all waiting in front of gaming centers.

"What were all these people waiting in line for? Sword Art Online! The one at the front of the line waited there for three days prior to launch! Amazing! Or is this just what any real gamer would do?" Kazuto listened with half an ear, more intent on flicking through his catalog. "On today's MMO Stream, we'll be covering the internationally famous Sword Art Online, Aka SAO!"

Too quickly, Kazuto flipped to the next page and a small droplet of blood gathered on the tip of his finger. He stared at it for a moment, before taking a tissue from the box beside his catalog and holding his injured finger for a moment. Then, he threw it in the bin near his feet, where it joined many others like it. _'Not again.'_ He sighed.

"To be honest, none of the Nerve Gear Software released so far has really taken advantage of the hardware… Yeah, it all sucked." Said one man that stood in line. He smiled at the camera, as if he had commented on the weather, and had not made a slightly offensive remark about previous games.

"Brother…!" called a feminine, childish voice. A soft knocking sounded on his door, and Kazuto stretched around to stare at it silently. "I'm off to practice."

He waited until her footsteps had disappeared down the hall, then stood. He shut off the TV and closed his magazine, then, he grabbed his Nerve Gear helmet and placed it gently over his head as he laid down his bed.

He closed his eyes and smirked, "Link start!" the Nerve Gear activated immediately, and brought him through the game's basic settings and login screens. Then, his world became a gray space and before his eyes the words 'Welcome to Sword Art Online!' appeared, just as he remembered.

His body barreled forward into cyberspaces; hundreds of blue and white circles flashed before his eyes. Finally, after thirty seconds, the images cleared and he was in the middle of the town square of level one. "I'm back in this world!"

No longer was he average, ordinary Kazuto Kirigaya. Now, he was Kirito – one of the front runners in the beta test.

Kirito was smart, a born strategist, and swordplay came easily to him.

He was handsome too, though his hair and eyes were the same color as they were in the real world. His avatar looked like a 17 year old, attractive protagonist from some fantasy animation, rather than a 14 year old high school student.

He stood at the same height as Kazuto – 5'7- and wore a pale-blue, hand-sewn V-neck which was tied with a light brown cord, along with brown trousers, and hand-sewn leather shoes.

* * *

Kirito took a long stride to the left in order to avoid a young girl, and continued sprinting through the town. His eyes looked out for oncoming players as he searched out the alley he wanted to take. The equipped sword on his back showed that he had already bought his supplies, and the small smile on his lips hinted that he was ready for his first battle.

The young girl he had avoided turned around and stared at his retreating back. Her long black hair was gathered into a ponytail, and blue-indigo eyes narrowed minutely.

Kagome waited only a few seconds before jogging after him, but she wasn't the only one who had this idea. Another man with pink hair stepped out in front of her and ran to follow, "Hey! You there!" he yelled.

By the time they caught up to the boy with black hair, they were standing in an alleyway. "Are you talking to me?" the boy asked, tilting his head a fraction to the left.

"You move like you've been here before; you were in the beta test weren't you?" the man with pink hair asked, huffing and puffing with his hands on his knees.

"Y-Yeah." His black hair shifted as he looked at his feet and then back up.

Pink hair launched himself at the boy and clasps his hands around his shoulders, "Today is my first day! Show me the basics, okay?"

"Uh…"

"I'm begging you!" he cried, "My name is Klein, nice to meet you!"

"I'm Kirito." 'Kirito' smiled, and nodded his head to him.

"Um…" they turned, and the raven head blushed, "I-I'm sorry!"

"Was there something you wanted?" Kirito asked with a soft smile. The action was clearly meant to sooth her, and Kagome felt a twinge of guilt for what she was about to do.

She sent him one in return, "Uh… n-nevermind. I'm sorry to have bothered yo…" She turned around, but her wrist was caught by Klein.

"Non-sense! There must be something, you wouldn't have come over here if there wasn't!" he watched her with a friendly smile, and she blushed further.

"W-W-Well…"

"Go on!" encouraged Klein, and Kirito looked between them silently.

Her shoe scrapped across the cobblestones and she looked up at them both shyly, "I was going to ask the same thing Klein did, b-b-but…I'm sure you've got better things to be doing!" she shifted before her face melted into something akin to horror, "! I'm not stalking you or anything, I just heard your name because I was standing behind you!"

They both stared at her strangely for a moment, before Klein's face cracked into a grin and he began to laugh boisterously, "Ha ha~! Isn't she cute Kirito?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess." The younger boy muttered, turning his face away and clearing his throat. His embarrassment lasted only an instant, because in the next she began to yell at Klein for calling her 'cute' and he fought to smother a smile.

"Come on Kirito! You can spare a little time for this adorable kid, can't you?" Klein asked teasingly, letting his arm hang loosely around her shoulders.

"I-I!" She squeaked, attempting to shrug him off. It failed, and Klein's grin widened.

Kirito shook his head, casting her a true smile, "Of course, what's your name?"

She stopped struggling and turned to him mid-complaint. In that moment, Kirito noticed that Klein had been right, in part. She was cute, but certainly not a kid.

"I'm Kagome."

* * *

"Right in the _crotch_!" Klein crowed, rolling around the grass as he held said part of his body. The others watched him with varied degrees of disbelief.

"I-Is he always so eccentric?" Kagome wondered aloud, cringing as Klein released a particularly loud howl. She rubbed her ear.

Kirito shrugged from her side, "Possibly. I haven't seen a change in behavior, have you?"

She shook her head and blushed, Kirito stared. _'This isn't the type of girl I usually see in MMO's. She must be young.'_ Or just really awkward, he decided. He turned away from her and back to the task at hand. "Give me a break; you don't feel any pain. Right?"

Klein froze mid-yell and took a moment to consider, "Oh, yeah. Just habit I guess." He laughed, scratching the back of his neck, but a faint blush tinged his cheeks.

' _All that for a habit?'_

"Alright," Kirito turned around and gently pried Kagome's fingers from the back of his shirt. "Your turn Kagome." Her eyes were wide and frightened; he almost felt bad for her.

She released a squeak, "M-Me?" She pointed to herself and her lips tugged into a pout.

He nodded sternly, "You did say you wanted to learn."

Kagome glanced back and forth between the boar and Kirito uncertainly, "…" then she looked away, the natural pale color of her cheeks coated with red. "Sure."

She took a few shaky steps forward, and Klein grinned as she summoned her sword. "You got this!" he called.

The boar's beady red eyes seemed to glare at her and she had to remind herself that this monster was a tolerant – a monster that must be attacked-, rather than an aggressive – a monster that attacks unprovoked. A shiver rolled down her spine.

Somehow, it was issuing a challenge.

Her legs stopped shaking, and she slipped into an offensive stance as naturally as one might breathe. Her fingers trailed along the edge of her blade and her sword lit up with a level one skill. She waited until the skill had charged ten seconds, then her body shot forward.

In an instant a red slash appeared from snout to tail, and she stood behind it with her sword at her side. The boar's health dropped dramatically and finally the beast yielded to 0%, giving an obnoxious squeal as it shattered into hundreds of red shards. After they had vanished, a card appeared before her eyes that listed the EXP that she had gained.

"That was… hot." Klein whispered, nudging Kirito. He was shoved away.

"Kagome, you already know how to use skills?" the surprise was clear in Kirito's tone, and the furrowed brow did nothing but enhance that.

Immediately, she blushed, "Well…"

Klein loosely wrapped his arm around Kirito's shoulder, grinning, "I sense something interesting coming into play. Out with it!"

Kagome tucked her head, "I was a beta too." She explained, and her sword disappeared as she mentally cursed herself. She shouldn't have made the skill seem so easy. During the beta, she had remembered enough of her father's personal tips to pick skills up efficiently, but it had still taken her two hours to launch her first sword skill.

"Then why did you ask for help?" the incredulous tone of Kirito's voice did nothing to sooth her hyper driven mind, which screamed that she had just made an extreme error.

' _Think Kagome, think!'_ "I-I" an idea came to her abruptly, and she blurted out, "…I thought you were cool, I remembered seeing you at one of the beta meetings!" she made sure to blush extra madly, "the one in Shinjaku, remember?" a faint trembling entered her voice, and fake tears prickled in her eyes as she met his. Inside, she cackled, for she could see his anger and confusion breaking away into panic. _'Sucker.'_ "But I was too s-shy to ask you to enter a party with me… so I-I…" she trailed off, sniffling.

Both men were eating the story up; Kirito with a look of regret – and panic, he clearly didn't know how to handle a crying girl-, and Klein broke into laughter, "She's just so _cute_ Kirito!"

If he'd been paying attention, perhaps he would have noticed that the girl in front of him was a little too childish for her age. Just a little too cute, but instead Kirito fumbled for words, honestly unsure of how to approach this kind of situation, "Hey don't cry Kagome; it's alright."

The tears blinking in her eyes raised his discomfort, "But I lied to you!"

He released an awkward laugh, and laid his hand on her warm shoulder, "Come on, everyone tells a little fib once in a while. I don't mind Kagome, but…" he paused and made sure to catch her eyes, which had been wondering to the ground, "you could have just told me you wanted to enter a party."

" _But_ she's too _shy_ Kirito!" Klein crowed as another boisterous laugh left his mouth, the dark-haired teen turned to send him a half-hearted glare.

"Alright Klein that's enough; I still have to show you how to do this!"

* * *

"Dang it!" Klein's body bounced off the ground three times before landing in a painful pile.

Kirito was far past worrying whereas Klein's health was concerned; he sighed, "I've told you, what's important is your initial motion input." His eyes remained on the boar that had just knocked Klein flat on his arse. He picked up a rock.

Klein sulked, rubbing at his shoulder, "Sure, I _get that_ … but he keeps moving around!"

"Did you expect it to just **let** you kill it?" The words left Kagome's mouth before she had time to calculate his reaction. His head snapped up and he stared incredulously. His mouth was open in a gape. She blushed, "Sorry that came out harshly. I meant that if you were to attack something in reality, it would react to defend itself; why would it be any different in a virtual reality? You need to develop your skills so that you can defend yourself as well."

"Exactly, that's why learning sword skills is vital." Said Kirito, "If you do the motion input right and activate a sword skill the system will ensure that the technique connects." He aimed and with a flick of his wrist, threw the rock. It sailed through the air and solidly connected with the boar's left thigh.

The lesson continued as such, Kirito demonstrating and Kagome correcting Klein's form, and after hours they had both become emotionally invested in Klein's first kill. Needless to say, when Klein FINALLY killed his first low-level boar, a wide smile spread across Kagome's face.

"Congrats!" Kirito said, a small smile tracing his lips.

Kagome nodded at him, and the pride that filled Klein was enormous. These two had been so patient with him… and finally, _finally…_

He had made his first kill!

"Yata!" He slammed his fist into the air, laughing.

* * *

"No matter how many times I see it, I still can't believe it…" Klein laid on soft grass, his skin wet with perspiration, and the slight breeze cooling it. The area around them was lit up with a kaleidoscope of oranges, reds, and yellows. "This game is so much like reality. Whoever made it is a genius. It's really amazing. Seriously, I'm glad I was born in this time."

 _If only you knew what he sacrificed to create this world, what would you think of him then?_ Her father had sacrificed his life, his friends and family… her. She turned her face away from the brilliant sunset, scoffing as she muttered, "You make a big deal out of everything."

Klein smiled again, bigger now, and let out a mocking gasp, "Gimme a break! It's my first full dive!" he jeered, "I bet you were all over this your first time."

 _Bad use of words_ , Kirito shoved that thought away, "Then this is your first time playing a game with NerveGear?" he asked.

Klein nodded furiously, "I rushed out anushd bought the hardware to play SAO. I was really lucky to get one of the ten thousand copies. Well, I guess you were both ten times as lucky, getting into the beta test. Only a thousand people got to do it."

"I guess." The two raven heads muttered simultaneously.

"How far did you get in the beta?"

Kirito's response sounded rehearsed, "Over a couple of months, only to level eight. This time, it'll only take a month to reach that." After all they weren't going in blind anymore. Now they had the locations of quests and bosses.

Kagome nodded from beside him, "I wasn't around much the last month, but my first two were brilliant." She smiled, "Everything felt so real, you know? Sometimes I forgot that this was all a game, and I had to remind myself that the real world is outside all this."

"Oi you just scolded me for the same thing!" Klein crowed petulantly, then he softened, "You're both really into this huh?"

"To be honest, during the beta test, SAO was all I thought about, day and night." Kirito confessed, "In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. It's a virtual world, but I still feel more alive here than I do in the real one." He laughed slightly, "Now then, want to hunt some more?"

Both Klein and Kagome nodded, then the former sighed regretfully. "I'd love to, but I'm really hungry, so I'm logging out!" his stomach growled loudly.

"Eating food here only makes you think you aren't hungry." Kirito approved with a nod in his direction.

Klein laughed, "I already ordered a hot pizza for 5:30!"

His laughter was contagious, and a small wormed onto Kirito's face, "You're so prepared."

"Oh yeah!" Klein stood, stretching, "Well, once I've eaten I'll be back."

"I see."

"Hey!" he gripped the arms of this two newest friends, "After this, I'm meeting up with some people I know from another game. You guys want to friend them too?"

Kagome froze and glanced at the ground. Kirito's smile slipped into a frown.

"Of course if you don't want to that's okay. I'll introduce you another time."

"Yeah, sorry." Muttered Kirito, "Thanks."

Kagome's eyes didn't leave the ground, "Uh, yeah thanks. Sorry Klein… I just have a hard time around new people is all…" Aka _I'm afraid someone will see through me._

Klein rolled his eyes, "Pffft thanks? That's my line! I'll pay you back for your help." He winked, "Mentally."

They nodded and Kagome pushed herself from the ground. Kirito followed suit.

"Thanks so much!" he held out his hand and she locked her fingers around his forearm. His grin widened. "See you around."

Kirito took the arm after her, "If there's anything else you want to know, just tell me." He meant it too. He'd enjoyed the day of training and goofing off with the exuberant pinky and quiet raven.

"Yeah I'll do that!" Klein waved, that huge grin still on his face, before turning around and rummaging through his menu.

"So you still in for training?" Kirito asked, waving back at Klein but turning toward Kagome.

She nodded.

"Boars?"

"We could go after the honeycomb off route 12?" she offered instead, and could tell that spiked his interest, "It offers twice the experience as well as two thousand in game coins per players, AND there are low level wolves all over the path into the forest." She was sure the level two aggressives wouldn't be much of a challenge with their sword skills – though she was still twenty experience from reaching that level herself.

Kirito thought about it, "True but the wolves tend to attack on sight and the forest is crawling with them." He hummed and thought it through. He had a few too many unhappy experiences with being attacked by five or six wolves at a time, and being at a lower level disturbed him, "I'm near leveling so the smart option would be to reach two on boars and collect supplies back in the Town of Beginnings. How are you on health potions?"

Kagome quickly scrolled through her inventory and winced, "Not so good – so you want to level, teleport back for potions and maybe an extra sword, then head off to complete the Breadwinner Quest?"

He nodded and smiled slightly. He was enjoying this party more than he thought he would.

"Uhhh guys?" Klein called, startling both. He had turned toward them with a weird expression, "There's no button to log out."

"Look closer." Kagome replied.

"No, it's not there."

"At the bottom of the main menu…" Kirito murmured, opening his own. His eyes bulged and his breath came out in a hiss.

"See it isn't there." Klein affirmed.

Kagome frowned and opened her menu. She was met with the familiar sight of a missing log out button. Her heart sank. Why had she thought father would change his mind? And when – because surely she could go back in time and smack her naïve self in the face for getting her hopes up.

"Well it _is_ the first day out of beta!" Klein said cheerfully, "There are bound to be some bugs. I'm sure the server people are freaking out." He sniggered.

Kirito hid a smile behind his hand as he checked the time in the corner of his vision, "In a second you will be too. It's 5:25."

Klein's answering gasp was too overdramatic to be genuine. He clutched his head, "My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!"

"Dude what are you eating?" Kagome muttered, her face scrunched. The image of a very pretty redhead with huge boobs popped unexpectedly into her head. After this was all over, she would sit down for a Bleach marathon.

Kirito sent her an amused smile, but rolled his eyes at Klein, "Just hurry and call the game master."

"I tried, but nothing is happening." Whined Klein, "is there any other way to log out?"

"No. If a player wants to log themselves out, they have to go through the main menu." Kagome frowned. Her hands had twitched into tight fists.

"That's nuts!" Klein exclaimed, "There's got to be some way. RETURN! LOG OUT! ESSSCAPE!"

The sky slowly turned eerily dark and Kagome instinctively huddled closer to the person nearest to her. The arm that settled onto her shoulder was placed there just as impulsively. Kirito squeezed reassuringly, "She's telling the truth… there wasn't an emergency logout in the manual either."

"You're kidding right? This game is the new biggest thing, it'd be stupid to just have one way to log out!" Klein's eyes were wide, "I know! I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head…" he reached up and pulled at the ends of his hair.

Kirito rolled his eyes, "You can't; we can't move our real bodies. The NerveGear intercepts anything we tell our bodies to do here."

"Seriously?" Klein chewed his lip, "…So we have to wait for them to fix the bug?"

"Or for someone in the real world to remove the NerveGear from us. Got any family waiting for that pizza Klein?" she asked smiling half-heartedly.

Klein swallowed noticeably, "I live alone. What about you two?"

"I have a mom and sister. They should notice by dinnertime…" Kirito hesitantly offered. In truth he was sure they would, but when he didn't answer they might assume he was in a funk and leave dinner outside his bedroom door.

Kagome turned away from them to look at the interesting layers of dirt at her feet. Huh, would you look at the shading on the grass… definitely seems real…

"Eh, hey Kagome what about you?"

She cringed just thinking about where her body was resting. "I'm… alone."

Kirito frowned remembering his earlier sentiment about her age. He grew more and more uncomfortable as her lonely words echoed in his head.

Klein, oblivious to the sudden moodiness, grabbed Kirito by the shoulders causing his arm to leave its place on Kagome's shoulder. "H-How old is your little sister?"

"…She's on a sports team and she hates games. She has nothing to do with people like us."

Kagome was forced to move away from Kirito from fear of being squashed, "That doesn't matter-"

Seconds later, after Kirito had kicked him in the head he was thinking with, it surely mattered. "AHHHH – Oh right it doesn't hurt."

Kirito scoffed, "More importantly don't you find this weird?"

"Sure I do." Klein shrugged, "It's a bug."

"This isn't just a bug." _Oh if only you knew Kirito._ His words were like a wake up call to the entertaining dream she'd been having.

Suddenly she wasn't just here to hang out with two guys she was growing increasingly fond of. Now she had to remember that her dad asked her – of all the favors- to befriend Kirito. Was this betrayal of a new friendship?

She blinked back into reality as Kirito finished what looked to be a lengthy lecture. Klein's now worried expression said it all, "…wasn't even an announcement."

"Something just isn't right about this." Klein muttered, fiercely shaking his head.

 **BOOM**

 **BOOM  
BOOM**

 **BOOM**

The church bell – a prominent attraction of the Town of Beginnings- went off, causing four chilling sounds to resonate through the entirety of level 1.

If Kagome wasn't aware of what was happening, she would have been officially clued in that something was horribly wrong. This game was supposed to be fun, but it was reminding her more and more of Jurassic Park.

A bright light obscured her vision, and in a flash that sounded like thunder, she was in the town square. Around her people loudly spoke; girls clinging to their boyfriends, newfound guild mates grabbing each other's shoulders and shouting in their faces… it was like a chaotic nightmare.

Though the eyes of Kirito however, it wasn't so bad. Just confusing. "A forced teleport?" he questioned, looking around wildly. He quickly picked up on Kagome's –very obvious- distress and grabbed her hand. He squeezed it. "Hey everything is fine Kagome…"

"What happened? Where are we?" Klein shouted over the crowd. He stood just in front of them, eyes wide and buggy.

The bell finally stopped tolling as the last of ten thousand players arrived into the square.

The square hushed, as though they were suddenly afraid to make a noise.

"Up there." Kagome shivered. A button shaped in red had appeared far over their heads and the words **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ appeared in black moments later.

 **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_ **Warning!** _System Announcement!_

Again and again the words repeated, like something out of a chiller flick. They surrounded them in a dome shape around the square and a map of the world could be made out in lighter pink behind the red buttons.

Next, blood soaked through the edges of said warning signs and created a glob that went on to shape a cloaked figure.

Klein gaped, "W-What is that?"

"A game master?" Kirito muttered, _Talk about a dramatic entrance._

 _"Attention players. Welcome to my world."_

"My world?" he muttered, sparing a glance at Klein and Kagome from the corner of his eye. Both were gaping at the figure.

 _"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world."_ He let them absorb this before continuing. _"I'm sure by now you're all aware, that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But it is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online."_

"A-A feature?" Klein muttered. What kind of feature was that? A million questions were running through his mind, but none seemed to fulfill him with an answer. The game master didn't make him wait long.

 _"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."_

Shouts started up in the crowd. Something about bullshit and 'leaving'. At least a hundred people tried to duck out of the square and into streets or alleyways… but things didn't go as planned for them. An invisible barrier blocked their paths.

"What's he talking about? He's got to be nuts! Right Kirito? Kagome?"

Kirito responded slowly, having been lost in his thoughts, "He's right that the transmitter's signals work just like microwaves. If the safety were disabled it could fry a brain."

"Then we cut the power…"

"No, the NerveGear has an internal battery." Kirito finished.

Kagome bit her lip and nodded jerkily, "He's right; this is terrible."

 _"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever. From both Aincrad and the real world."_

"Two hundred and thirteen?" stuttered Kirito.

"I don't believe it…" Klein muttered.

Meanwhile Kagome clutched onto Kirito's hand tighter in an attempt to steady herself. She couldn't bear to take her eyes off of her father's cloaked form, "Two hundred and thirteen… that's several?" She felt sick. Her father was always more entertained with the virtual world than the real one but still… didn't he see how wrong this was? Didn't he feel remorse over those lost lives?

Was he truly a monster?

 _"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you can relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly! There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game! If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."_

If Kirito was worried before, now he was panicked. Visions of his deaths flashed before his eyes. So many deaths…

 _"There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad. Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game._ ** _"_**

"Clear all one hundred floors? That's impossible! The beta testers never made it anywhere near that high!" Klein shouted. He was waiting for the hooded figure to freeze and suddenly cackle out, "Got ya!"

It didn't.

 ** _"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves."_**

Kagome hesitantly summoned her inventory and scrolled through the items. Bronze sword, small elixir, ruby stone… "Mirror?" she pressed her finger down on the item and a small silver mirror dropped into her hand. She ignored the awed noises from other curious players who had done the same.

Light enveloped her, and Kagome suddenly worried she had made a grave error. Would father have put a trap in their inventories to weed out the foolish?

The light faded and she remained alive. _That's a plus._ The mirror was gone and she looked around. Nothing seemed off about the light until she noticed it surround a young girl with silvery hair… when the light faded she was a balding man in a pink skirt and revealing top.

She blinked and looked down at her hand. It was smaller than before, and she saw a little silvery line on the knuckle of her right pointer.

… Where she had dropped a knife when she was six. It was a scar this body shouldn't have.

A squeeze on her hand brought her back to attention and she realized she'd fallen to her knees.

"Kagome, are you alright?" Kirito asked gently and she looked up at him through blurry eyes and long black hair. Crying already? She felt like such a baby.

He seemed shocked and alarmed so she hurried for an excuse, "This is all so confusing! I don't understand…" _why dad would do this. Why did he do this?_

Two jaws dropped and she wiped at her eyes, oblivious.

Klein glanced frantically between the two raven heads – that much stayed the same. Kirito was a lot more childish looking than before, and more girly though he would never say anything. To be honest the look suited his personality, and he liked him better that way.

Kagome was also more like a child, but as she stood he noticed that her build was more sporty and lean than it had been previously… like she had been running track or participating in multiple sports. Her hair was longer as well, and silkier.

He faltered and looked at himself in the mirror; unruly pink hair, faint stubble… definitely him. Real him – UGH that confused him! "How?!" he finally stuttered out.

Kirito looked up from where he had been watching Kagome frantically brushing the hair out of her eyes. "That scan… the NerveGear covers your entire head with a high-density signaling device. So it can see what you face looks like… but our height and body shape…"

Klein frowned, "When we first used the NerveGear it had us calibrate it right? You had to touch your body all over." He patted his arms remembering the sensors that had been hooked up to his palms the previous time he did it.

"O-oh right… that must be where it got the data."

"But… but… _why_?! Why do all this anyway?"

Kirito pointed to the game master, "I'm sure he'll tell us."

Turning, he looked at the terrified faces of Klein and Kagome. Klein stared back, but Kagome had yet to take her eyes of Akihiko. Finally his eyes wandered to her hand, so small that it was completely enveloped in his own.

It slipped away and she hugged her arms around herself.

 _"Right now, you're probably wondering. "Why?" Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason... to create this world and intervene in it."_

"Kayaba…!" hissed Kirito, all the while wishing that looks could kill. If they could he have died 9,887 times.

 _"And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players."_

With that he disappeared, the red dome with him.

Kirito's hand shook as he closed his fist tightly. _'This is real. The genius who created NerveGear and created a completely virtual space, Kayaba Akihiko. I admired him, so I can tell... Everything he just said is true. If I die in the game, I will die in real life!'_

"Come on Klein!" Kirito grabbed the back of the other man's shirt and pulled him along.

Kagome watched them disappear into the crowd, feeling decidedly numb. She tried to follow, honestly she did, but with the panicked bodies pushing at her smaller frame from all sides she didn't see which alley they disappeared down.

She panted as an especially large and confused male bumped into her and her head smacked the ground. Feet pushed into her back and stepped on her legs.

She grit her teeth and started to pull herself up – only to be wrenched to her feet roughly by the back of her shirt. She caught a flash of blue before a large hand grabbed hers and pulled her through the crowd. They weaved, ducking and barreling through alleys.

Minutes passed and they were at the edge of town nearing the crappiest inn _in_ the Town of Beginnings.

The man that grabbed her was taller than her with medium length and shaded blue hair. His body was thin, but strong.

After they had entered the inn, he turned back to her and settled blue eyes on hers. The serious look on his face, which was framed by longer bangs, confused her. "Kagome?"

What on earth… "Yes?"

He laughed suddenly, and pulled her into a hug. So shocked, she allowed him to swing her body around like a rag doll. "I knew it was you!"

She frantically racked her brain for any blue-haired men she'd met in the real world – no he definitely wasn't ringing a bell.

When he finally set her on the ground and stepped back, she was sure the look on her face was awkward at best.

"I yelled for you earlier when you were with those two guys but you didn't answer. Must not have heard me," he added laughing weakly, "Oi where've you been? Why didn't you send me a friend request?"

 _Blue hair, blue hair, blue hair…_ An image flashed into her brain of a handsome sixteen year old with blue hair that flowed to his back. He wore bronze armor over blue cotton clothing… just as this boy – who appeared sixteen- did. She let out a shocked gasp, "Diavel?"

* * *

This chapter was posted on Tainted Light about two weeks ago, however my aunt recently passed away and I haven't had any spare time to finish making improvisations to chapter 2. It should be out tonight or tomorrow!

xx Niki


	2. Red Sparks

**Chapter 2 - Red Sparks**

 _i luv niki4444_

* * *

"Do you know any other handsome men?" he asked slyly, and Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Only you Diavel. Only you."

Diavel smirked, "I thought so – and to think, you've been deprived of my company for the last _month_."

"It was horrible." She deadpanned.

"I'm sure." He replied seriously, then held out his arms, "Do you want to try that again?"

She pretended to wince, and exaggerated her hesitance, "Well I don't know. You know what they say about handsome men…" Despite this, she hugged him back when his arms wrapped around her middle.

She really had missed him; not that she would ever say that to his face _seriously._

After releasing him, she looked around at the familiar, rundown settings. The floors were a wooden and dusty, the walls grey and splattered with water stains and mold. An NPC with a face in need of scrubbing stood behind a large horizontal reception desk. Behind him, was a shelf full of keys that she knew were for show. The room key would materialize in her inventory after purchase.

There was a small dining area with long, wooden tables not far from the door and a group of around fifteen people sat at three which were pushed together. She recognized a few and wasn't surprised when Diavel waved at them.

Despite that, she teased, "Friends of yours?"

"Diavel, were you in the plaza?" called one.

He dragged her over, his smile disappearing. She stood awkwardly as he sat down, "Yeah I was there." He said, "Where's Trin?"

"Never showed up." The same guy said. He wore royal blue clothing without armor and had long, bright green hair with dark eyes. "We think her mom tried to take off the NerveGear." Diavel flinched, and the dull conversation around the table ceased. All eyes were on him. "It's hard to think of her gone." The leaf head finished.

"We'll just have to operate under the assumption that she is." Stated Diavel firmly, "Listen up everyone, from here on out this isn't a game. It's reality, and if you die here you die for real." He stood and everyone stared at him expectantly, "No more risks. While we level, we work in pairs even if everything points to success. Is that understood?"

Each and every person at the tables nodded, save for Kagome. She smirked and leaned back when he raised a brow at her.

Diavel grinned suddenly, "Well then get out of here – and remember, we've done this before. This is still our territory." Around the tables people were falling into pairs, and Kagome realized she was the odd one out. Oh well, she needed to be going anyway. As nice as seeing her goofy friend was… she should probably be looking for Kirito.

Diavel turned to the brunette seated beside him.

Her long hair hung in a braid that reached her waist, and she blinked innocent grey eyes up at him. "Kimiko want to grab Kagome and go?" he teased.

She nodded and stood, leaving Kagome dumbfounded by her height. She stood at the same height as Diavel –who she knew for a fact was 5'11. Her form hulked over Kagome's 5'1.

Kimiko smiled sweetly, "What's up Ka? You disappeared on us."

"You know how it is, school and all that." Kagome hugged her, "My dad was a little stressed last month and he needed me to… help him with things around the house."

Her friend winced sympathetically, "I get that. My mom's been pressuring me into joining the family business." As mafia as that sentence sounded, Kagome knew that she was talking about dentistry. She'd gotten an internship in Tokyo – because of her mother's insistence- after being basically grandfathered into the program.

She hadn't been happy about it at ALL.

After she brought the situation to Kagome's attention she, along with Diavel had managed to convince her that she should follow her dreams instead of theirs. She wanted to be a doctor, and in the time they'd known each other, turned into a badass one here in SAO.

In SAO there was a fifteen percent chance of catching a cold if a player stood out in the rain, which increased to twenty-three percent if it was windy. Flu's were only possible in the winter, with a ten percent chance if standing outside for more than an hour without a certain level of warmth.

Also, if a player received burning outside of combat, the burn would remain even with a health potion taking ten health for a stage 1 burn, twenty for a stage 2, and thirty for a stage 3 until they had healed naturally.

Kimiko had a photogenic memory, and while other healers were running around trying to discover the secrets to the in-game herbs, she had read about all of them in the manual and online. Even the herbs in the higher levels.

She was definitely someone to keep around; especially when she returned to her former level. A few bandages from her were as good as a potion – and not nearly as expensive because of their friendship status.

Diavel's voice brought her back from her thoughts, "… stop soon hon; they should know you can't be bullied."

He received a fearful grimace that clearly said 'what if I don't see them again?' She loved her parents even if they got on her nerves and the thought truly terrified her.

"We'll get out of here soon." Kagome assured, "In the meantime we don't have time for distractions. We need to level and fast. The EXP awards will be disappearing quickly and you can bet the beta players will get most of it. Just going out to kill boars won't cut it if we want to stay ahead."

"So what are you suggesting?" Kimiko asked, though clearly uncomfortable with assuming the game was a competition for EXP.

She remembered the conversation she had had with Kirito, "I say we grab some health potions and rush out to complete the Breadwinner Quest. There's plenty of level two wolves to try leveling on the way there."

"Are you forgetting the level five Giant Bees?" Diavel asked incredulously, "I'm still level 1 Kagome!"

"So am I." she shrugged, "but think of it. Breadwinner gives some of the most EXP on this level and if we're preparing to fight the boss we need that experience." She insisted, "We can all reach level three on the wolves and go on to the Giant Bees. They're non-aggressive so we won't have to worry about taking on multiple enemies, AND the three of us would be able to take them on relatively easily."

"You're being impulsive!" spat Diavel, his arm clinching around Kimiko's waist protectively. "Being reckless could get us killed. If the wolves don't on the way there."

Kimiko placed a hand on the chest of her quick tempered boyfriend. It was one of the things that Kagome didn't particularly like about Diavel – he got pissy when someone questioned his leadership.

He was a great leader of course, but he seemed to think no one else could make decisions.

"She's right Div." the brunette quietly stated.

"I'm not putting you on the line." He returned.

Kagome folded her arms, "She's already 'on the line'. You want to protect her? Teach her to protect herself." She allowed her concern to show through her harsh exterior as she made eye contact with him.

As brilliant a doctor as Kimiko was, she hadn't really bothered with the combat aspect of SAO during the beta. She'd rush out into the middle of battlefields to heal her party members, and tended to die often.

Diavel seemed to be acknowledge that as well. His arm tightened around her, "I don't want her facing wolves at level 1."

Kagome sighed. Time for plan B. "Right, then why don't we kill boars until we all level? It's in the opposite direction, but there's no chance of having to kill more than one. It won't be too much of a setback." _It'll be a huge setback. Please Diavel…_

Unfortunately, Diavel wasn't taking any chances. It was commendable, but still. "Let's do that." He nodded, "We can grab health potions on the way back through town."

She heaved another sigh, "Alright; it would be smart to grab a spare sword or two while we're at it. And armor for Kimiko." Hell she wished the other girl was a few levels higher so they could give her some stronger armor than bronze.

"Good idea." Kimiko smiled, patting her shoulder.

The run back to the boars felt a lot different than when she had ran there with Kirito. The atmosphere was tense. When they reached the winding fields, they discovered that it was also a complete contrast to earlier that day. While before a few people had been idly killing boars –or learning to kill them, as it pertained to many- now it was filled with players. It was easy to tell the beta from the newer players; they used sword skills that lit up the night sky.

The field was a frenzy, and the players that didn't know sword skills just hacked at the animals. The sight filled her with dread. She felt like she was watching walking corpses.

"We should help them." Kimiko murmured, "These people… they're all going to die! If they tried that on a wolf…"

Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed harshly, "All we have is knowledge. The best we can do for them is better ourselves. Try to get the hell out of here so they can return home."

"She's right." Diavel reluctantly said, "We have to look after ourselves first. Maybe after we reach level ten we can come back here and train them."

Kimiko stared, setting her jaw, "Three. The three worst off we can find."

"Excuse me?"

"We know what we're doing right? So why don't we grab onto people that clearly can't and increase our party size?" She crossed her arms, "If they've got friends that are about as clueless as them we can tell them to wait in a safe place or something. Meanwhile, we show these three what to do and help them reach level two – bring them with us on the Breadwinner Quest." Her voice became more confident as she spoke, and Kagome was seeing the advantages of six. "Then, when we've completed the quest we can bring them back here on our way to the next town. They can teach their friends and those friends can teach other friends…"

Kagome bit her lip, hesitating. Leveling themselves would take time, but teaching another… She hung her head and then froze as her head snapped up.

A scream rang through the air and everyone seemed to freeze. The scream cut off as a body glowed not even ten feet away. It shattered into red pieces that disappeared into the air.

Dead… for real. What was that now, 214 – and that was just one death she knew of. This qualified as mass homicide right? And 9,786 to go. Her father was officially the world's most efficient serial killer. Didn't she owe something to these people? "She's right. How many betas do you see teaching the new players? They're like children, and this world was built for adults." _I helped create this. Part of this is on me._

In fact, the red shattering had been her idea at five years old. She thought it would be 'pretty' and her father loved to listen to her ideas. That was back when she didn't understand how little time 'daddy' spent with mama.

Now, the color made her cringe.

Diavel seemed to have changed his tune to match her frantic pacing, but he wouldn't go against his girlfriend's earnest wishes. He smiled grimly, "Alright then. So, we split and find people who are struggling and offer our assistance? Fill them in on the plan and if they refuse we can find someone else. We meet up back here in… twenty?"

Both girls nodded their consent and Kagome hurried off. _Alright, look for someone struggling._ Not difficult, considering most of the _field_ was struggling.

So maybe she should look for someone who was at a disadvantage- oh. That was quick.

A child no more than eight was taking on a boar not far away. His health was red and blinking above his head. The boar was at 75 percent health. She darted in front of him as he collapsed, ducking his head.

Her sword was drawn and she blocked the long tusks of the boar. Her health bar still lowered a few centimeters. Then, her sword lit up with a skill. One hit later, the boar was down for the count and she had another 12 EXP. Only eight more until she leveled.

She turned back to the child and knelt. His head was still in his arms, and his body trembled. She held his shoulder gently and he raised his head to look into her eyes. His were watering at the corners.

She sent him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "Hello there."

"H-hi." He had the biggest brown eyes she'd ever seen. His face was red.

Her heart fluttered. Is this how Klein and Kirito felt when she had asked them for help? No wonder they said yes. Adorableness won out over survival – somehow. "I'm Kagome, what's your name?"

"Tobi." He muttered, "T-Thanks for… saving me."

"Me? Saving a big strong guy like you – hardly." He brightened a little, "I shouldn't have interfered with your kill huh?"

"It's alright." He grinned toothily, he uncurled a little more.

Kagome released his shoulder and tapped on her inventory and selected 'give item', then touched a health potion. His name appeared and she confirmed her selection.

A second later a window appeared in front of him and he blinked owlishly.  
"Well go on." She rested her arm on her knee and her chin on her hand, "You need that from the looks of it."

He tapped the window and scrunched up his nose, "What is it?" he asked in the gruff, innocent way that only children seemed to pull off.

"Health potion, don't you have any?" she tried not to sound disproving, but his face reddened.

He gulped and she was sure he was seeing his health bar in the corner of his vision. "I got some really cool armor and weapons." He admitted, scratching his wrist. "But when I tried to equip them I couldn't until I was level five. So I used the last of my money to buy this sword." Beginners mistake; she couldn't blame him. If she'd been in this game with no prior knowledge, at eight years old, she would have bought the coolest sword ever without checking the level requirement too.

"Don't sound so embarrassed, it happens to the best of us." She patted his head, ruffling the thick, wavy brown hair.

His health bar shot up and he stood, his sword materialized in his hand after a swift click and he hopped a few times experimentally.

"Wait, I've got a proposition for you." His nose scrunched at the word 'proposition', "I mean I want to make a deal with you." It cleared, so she went on. "I was a beta tester and I'm looking for someone to take under my wing…"

She explained the situation quickly, taking careful note of the emotions that passed over the kid's face. Fear, sadness, determination… which gave way to hope, and finally relief.

"My parents are back at one of the inns." Tobi hesitantly replied, "They wanted to start training tomorrow, but I thought getting a head start would be better… so I snuck out." He admitted. That explained why no frantic adults were around to get him out of the boar's range. "There's a big group of us here..." He set his jaw, gripped her hand and squeezed, "Please teach me!"

"Your wish is my command." She was still kneeling, and a boar had respawned three yards away. "First lesson: Sword Skills. Its fine to take random swings at a monster, but it's not the most efficient method. At our level the skills deal three times the damage of a good hit. That's a two hit kill or, if we're lucky, a one-hit-KO."

He grinned at the thought.

"But you need to learn how to use them first."

She spent the next twenty-five minutes teaching Tobi how to use motion input and sword skills. When looking around the field, she couldn't spot Diavel or Kimiko. They had strayed a bit as they trained, and Tobi had nearly reached level two. He'd yet to use a sword skill, and that frustrated him, but he was well on his way.

Kagome ruffled his hair after he returned to her side panting, "How much EXP until you level?" She had another 129 until level three, but felt pretty confident about that number.

"Only Twenty." he replied.

"Two boars to go then. You ready for this?"

"Yeah."

It was amazing to watch the smile on his face when he leveled. For just a second, she was sure that he had forgotten that they were trapped, and instead reacted only as a small child playing a video game in virtual reality.

He grinned at her, wrapping his tiny arms around her middle, "Did you see Ka-"

"Hey! Sorry I'm late; you seen Kimiko around?"

She ignored Diavel for a few seconds, "That was pretty badass little man. It took me two whole hours to use my first sword skill." The kid was a natural once he'd learned how to swing and guard properly. Plus, the rate he'd thrown out that skill –in what thirty minutes- was impressive. He would make something of himself, she was sure. "and not yet Diavel. Who's this?"

She tossed a smile to the uncomfortable teenage boy with him. He was somewhere between rubbing his head and fixing his red hair. Deep brown eyes connected with her blue ones, and he swallowed hard, "I'm Wes."

Diavel patted the other man's arm, "He's pretty good with a sword, and he'll only improve right?" Wes relaxed a little, "Who's the kid?"

She waited for the boy to speak, and looked down to find him burying his face in her stomach, "This is Tobi." She spotted Kimiko walking towards them, a little girl carried in her arms, and hid a smile. The girl had a curious shade of blue hair, nearly the same as Diavel's.

She noticed the blush decorate Diavel's cheeks as he saw them, and heard him mutter about bleeding hearts. "You realize children won't teach as well?" he sighed, "It makes sense though. You didn't kidnap them right?"

She smiled, "The world may never know."

Kimiko reached them, grinning, "I think we're all set. Meet Aiko."

"I'm Tobi." Blurted her small friend.  
"Wes."

"We should go back to the Town of Beginnings and stock up on health potions. Maybe check for a level two sword?" Kagome said quietly as Diavel and Kimiko shared a passionate hug.

He made eye contact with her and smiled tersely, "That would be the better idea wouldn't it? Alright everyone, let's move out." They took off, not bothering with pleasantries. Not that their newest group members didn't want to, but there was something serious in the air around them as the two airs of authority took out crystals and teleported.

Kimiko caught the confused expressions on the younger kid's faces, even as Wes readied his crystal. "You know how to home teleport don't you?" she asked gently. They both reluctantly shook their heads. She found herself exasperated, "I'm sorry those two ran off; they get a little over exuberant. You need to select the blue crystal in your inventory."

"I don't have any," Tobi said softly. "I used all my money on weapons." His head bent shamefully as Aiko selected her crystal and it appeared in her hand.

The little girl leaned in close and whispered, "If it helps any, I only have one cause of my mom."

He gave her a teensy smile and Kimiko gifted him a teleportation crystal. Wes had paused in his teleport to watch the interaction, and when everyone had a crystal -and had been instructed on how to use it- the four teleported together.

Kimiko rolled her eyes when she saw Diavel standing alone on the platform despite the many bodies around him. "Where'd she go?"

Her boyfriend smiled uneasily, "She's buying supplies for her and the boy." He nodded to Tobi.

There was something off about his posture; his back was rigid, his hands pressed tightly to his sides. The smile on his face was riddled with something he was trying to hide.  
"What's wrong?"

He glanced uneasily at their newcomers. They were distracted with easy conversation. So he leaned in close to his girlfriend's ear, "She won't stay with us. You know that don't you?"

"Did you expect her to?"  
"Not really."  
"Then stop worrying. We'll keep her safe as long as we can, but we have to let her go."

He tried to relax – she did have a point, but that didn't stop his fear- and beckoned that the rest should follow him.

After a short walk, they found Kagome talking animatedly to a man with pink hair, a few others hanging back. She crossed her arms, laughing at something he said, "- don't count on it Klein. I met up with my old party from beta."

"That's a shame. Aw, well I'm sure we'll be fine on our own. Thanks for helping me out today," he added, "you and Kirito might have saved my life."

"Mostly Kirito," she laughed, "he's a good teacher."  
"Yeah."

"Did you see him? The plaza was so abuzz when he ran off that I couldn't push my way to follow him." But you did, she added mentally.

He glanced at his friends uncomfortably, "Yeah, but we went our separate ways. He was worried about you too though; I think he planned on going back to the square to make sure you were alright."

Somehow, she highly doubted it. He was a good guy, there was no questioning that, but from what she knew of him, he was also clever. He would be going after EXP just as vigorously as she would be- if she hadn't of run into Diavel.

"Sorry to interrupt, but did you already get your supplies?

Kagome jumped and turned to find her friend standing not far behind her. She smiled, "And Tobi's; the two of us are good to go."

He seemed tense as he glanced between her and Klein, "I'm set, and Kimiko's gathering a few essentials for her and Aiko. Wes claims he's fine on potions and the like."

"Going on a road trip?"

"A quest actually," was the terse reply.

"A quest?" Klein glanced back at his friends again, "Well if you need an extra hand, all that failing at sword skills earned me a pass to level three." He winked at Kagome.

She started. _Of course; he was trying for hours._ "I might take you up on that."

"Make that a definitely. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Diavel relaxed and offered his hand.

"It's Klein."

"Diavel. I apologize for any frigidity, it's been a long day, and I imagine the days hereafter will be even longer." He rolled his shoulders back with a resounding pop and grinned, "You're welcome to join us."

* * *

I apologize in advance if any of the characters seem out of character. The way I see it, we didn't see any of them until a month after the announcement. They're all taking it in different ways, and they'll have to push past that to be normal again. I honestly feel bad for them, as a gamer myself I've always wanted to play a VR like SAO. But even knowing that I would get trapped I might have been insane enough to purchase the game...

Also, I'm not sure how much herbology was explored in the original game, but I'll be honest and say I've done so much research to stay within the lines of the original plot that I forgot that this is a story and I'm allowed to make small twinges as long as their sensible. I can definitely imagine something like a herbalist in the original SAO, as a skill that anyone can acquire so long as they work at it (like cooking or fishing, ect).

Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope you're having a lovely day. ^^ I'd love to hear your opinion in a review or a PM, annndd yeah. I hope you enjoyed it!

Xx Niki


	3. The Breadwinner

**C** **hapter 3: The Breadwinner**

 _i luv niki4444_

* * *

Two hours later found them running toward the imposing forest lying between them and Breadwinner, with a filled in Klein. After learning that they had taken three non-betas under their wings, he'd taken an immediate liking to Kimiko, and by extension, Diavel.

More than that, the man seemed a little obsessed with the kids. Before they had taken off, he'd constantly tickled and poked them, trying to keep the two laughing to ease their terrified minds. It was heartwarming. Even now he made quiet conversation with them, occasionally including Wes, who ran behind him.

Kagome looked away, brought up her main menu selected to lock her health and stamina in vision for the time being. Her stamina bar was half gone, and they were coming up to the trees.

Stamina, like most things, worked differently in SAO. Similar to the mirror trick, her father had made them answer a hundred questions with the NerveGear on their head, so that if they lied it would detect the jump in pulse and brain frequencies. Their answers decided their basic strength and endurance stats, and from that calculated what their base speed would be. She knew that her beta friends would be fine, Diavel worked in construction part time and Kimiko was a talented tennis player, but all she really knew about Klein was that he liked women and teriyaki mayo pizza.

She craned her neck to eye him as they slowed to a stop. He looked like he was in pretty good shape… she stopped walking, her head snapping forward. She felt horrified, sick, holy hell…

 _I just checked Klein out. That wasn't even a quick look-_ in fact, she had focused rather blatantly on his biceps. What if someone saw? _This shouldn't even matter. I don't care, there's nothing strange about what just happened._

There wouldn't be, if she'd only been sizing up his stats. Her guilty conscious knew that wasn't the case. _Focus Kagome, remember him howling about his balls on the ground. See? So much less attractive…_

She stopped walking. Once again horrified, and an arm slapped around her shoulders, "So this is it eh? It doesn't look all that intimidating." It's like Klein sensed her moment of weakness and pounced. There was a huge grin on his stubby face, and she considered, possibly for the first time, that if he continued leveling he would make an intimidating rival one day. _I need to get out of my head. I'm driving myself insane._

"Say that again when we're overwhelmed by wolves," she teased, holding a cautionary hand out when he moved to approach. They were still about a hundred yards away, "Everyone. Let your stamina bars recover. It's unlikely we'll catch a break once we're in there."

"Won't health potions fix that," he whined, cutting off whatever answer Diavel was about to give.

"Health potions won't fix anything besides _health_ ," she deadpanned, "Stamina potions aren't available until you reach level ten."

"Why?"  
"Akihiko wants us to work for it."

"As depressing as that sentence is, she's right. And the last thing you want is to die because you ran out of stamina." Diavel told him.

Klein moved to argue but then seemed to make better of it. Tobi and Aiko were talking quietly behind the rest of them, the former of them had sat down and was rolling his neck free of kinks. Aiko nearly glowed as she spoke to him.

Wes stood alone, away from the group only a few feet. He looked so uncomfortable that it felt like much further. He didn't seem like the silent type, but more that he didn't know what to say. Normally, she might have went out of her way to make conversation, but she felt mentally drained after the long day.

Instead, she mirrored Tobi's position, letting Klein chatter and tease her. His cheerful, kind personality was refreshing after a month of being alone. She treasured the seconds she had with this group.

She needed to leave, and soon.

"How are we doing guys?" The response was a resounding 'ready when you are'. "When we're in there, keep your eyes open. Wolves are a pack animal, so if you see one, there are probably more."

With that in mind, the group headed out.

The trees that enveloped them were a hundred feet tall, thick with foliage, and eerily quiet. Every hair on her arms stood as her feet raked against the gravel road that traveled through its center. An overwhelming, nearly unbearable smell clung to her lungs with every breath.

Diavel stopped suddenly, and tugged on his girlfriend's wrist urgently, "Kimiko stay behind me." He breathed.

"Dia-"

"Did you hear it?"

Kagome strained to hear movement against grass, or panting breaths; anything that would give her a clue what he'd heard, "Nothing."

"Be careful."

The warning was something that couldn't be taken lightly. From experience, she knew that behind the seven foot tall bushes, angular rocks were conveniently positioned to allow attackers to jump onto low hanging branches.

Diavel kept a hand on Kimiko's waist as they started walking again. The girl sent her an exasperated smile and mouthed something like 'he's overreacting'.

Kagome saddled up to the blue haired man, keeping a close eye on the bushes around them, "Hey buddy."

"Why do I get the feeling I won't like whatever you're about to say?" her friend asked.

"I've not a clue."  
"Convenient."

"So, _buddy_." A heavy sigh interrupted her, "don't you think it would be a wonderful idea… to keep Kimiko the same or a higher level than us?"

"Are you trying to get her killed?"

"She's inexperienced, not incompetent." Was the swift answer, "Come on, you can't always be there to protect her. And what happens when we're fighting level twenty Mother Moths and she rushes in headlong to save your ass? At level two in combat, I might add."

He had that headstrong, pissy look on his face that came only when someone questioned him – and made sense. He was clearly thinking along the same lines, but his first impulse was to protect the girl he cared about.

He blanked for a second, eyeing the area, "Only if we're sure we can keep her safe. Not wolves."

"What are we getting ourselves into here?" Wes huffed, stomping closer to them. Then, "Holy shit!"

"Wes?" "Wes?"

"Where is it?"

He smacked into the ground as the rest tried to find the threat, "W-What was that?"  
"Did you see a wolf?" Diavel pushed.

"No, not it was… some kind of monkey," A monkey? What on… "with red eyes. It was huge; you can't tell me you didn't see that. Come on didn't anyone see that?" he pressed.

Kagome wearily evaluated the treetops, taking a few nervous steps toward Tobi who was tucked in near Klein. "I didn't see anything, it must be fast." There were large baboon-like creatures on level 84. Her father may have done a level scramble at the last minute so that the betas wouldn't know what to expect.

Even as the thought came to mind, the feeling that something wasn't right nagged at her. We didn't have any reason to scramble the creatures on the levels, not to mention that they were in their natural environments…

But that feeling gave her pause. "Something's different. Diavel, Kimiko, did you notice?"

"I can't put my finger on it. The environment's the same – but monkeys? The bushes don't make sense if they're in the trees."

"The canopy isn't thick enough. The area's a wolf's haven."

He nodded shortly. They had a pretty good view of most of the branches, and monkeys don't live in pine. Say what you will about Akihiko, he liked authenticity. This whole thing felt off.

"I don't remember it smelling this badly before. Maybe we should have been able to tell there were monkeys around." He joked half-heartedly.

Kagome grimaced, "Aren't they about as cleanly as humans?" she looked to Kimiko for support, but the other girl was sniffing the air daintily.

"It didn't smell like this before. The area should smell like pine…" The putrid odor was again called into question.

"Why the hell are you sitting there talking about fragrances?" Wes shouted, his sword equip, "It's right there!"

Kagome's head snapped in the direction he was waving his sword, "It's gone again."

"Are you blind?" he shrieked, "It's right there!"

"There's a hallucinogenic in the air." Kimiko realized aloud, "They usually don't have overwhelming scents, but they can be recognized pretty easily if you know what to look for." She paused, "So he put something stronger in to hide it from more experienced noses."

"What about the wolves?" Klein asked.

"They're here... Akihiko must have moved their territory further into the woods. He was probably hoping that we'd turn around when we started seeing things."  
"So what do we do?"

"We're sitting ducks," snarled Wes, "I thought you said this was going to be an easy in and out Diavel!"

"You gotta calm down man," Klein cut in, standing between the two men. Wes looked crazy enough, in that moment, to do something stupid, "we'll think our way out of this."

"And then what?" Wes hadn't calmed down in the least, and tears pooled in his eyes, "There's a hundred levels filled with this shit! We're all gonna die! There's no use even fighting it. There's nothing we can do." Her heart dropped into her stomach as he fell to his knees like a marionette with no strings.

She didn't hesitate sit down and pull him into her arms. He sobbed against her shoulder, holding on tightly as though he was a child. With a start, she realized he was probably only fifteen.

 _You're fourteen._ She reminded herself; though she didn't really feel like she was. She sat with a teenage boy crying into her and another eight year old looking like he was about to be. "It's okay. Hey, you're okay." She took his face into her hands and tried to smile encouragingly, "We need to fight. I know it seems hopeless right now, but you need to trust us. We'll get you out of this."

He shook his head, "It's just staring at me, and none of you can see it. You must think I'm crazy."  
"Not particularly no." replied Klein, "I just wish you'd chosen a better time for the mental break down we'd all love to be having."

Wes snorted; Aiko screamed.

And just like that, the fight began.

Kagome had been a little worried that they wouldn't be able to see the wolves, thankfully, that wasn't the case. Or at least for her; Aiko was shouting about a clown with scissors for hands and Wes had huddled up on the ground.

It was probably for the best.

Red eyes glared at her, and a beast easily eight feet in length tore out of the bushes. It knocked the wind out of her as it connected, her back slammed into the ground, and once she caught her bearings she tried desperately to tuck in her chin. Her hands were balanced awkwardly on its paws as she tried to push it, and it's snapping jaw, away from her face.

She'd never been very strong, and her hands crushed painfully against her chest after what felt like hours but was only a few seconds. She screamed; tears started in the corners of her eyes.

Until a piercing light split the wolf in two, and it shattered into blue sparks.

For a moment she could only stare at Klein's outstretched hand, mouthing incoherent words. He grinned, "Hey, come on now you're alright. Just look, it's dead!"

"Klein. I've never been so happy to have met someone in my life." She told him seriously. She took him hand, and he pulled her into a brief hug.  
"Does this mean you're in love with me?"

She looked past him and saw Diavel fighting off a dark brown wolf. Beyond that, a pitch black wolf had hid on a low branch ripe with needles, ready to spring on Kimiko's head. The woman was distracted with a little girl punching and kicking to get away from the 'clown monster' created by her own mind.

Kagome equipped her sword and lunged at it. It met her halfway, and she felt a little dizzy as their head's collided. They landed painfully on the ground, and she could feel her heart racing as they rolled. They stopped alongside each other, with her leg crushed painfully under its own. Through sheer force of will, she managed to force herself on top of it and activate Stab . Her sword pierced its skull and it shattered into a million shards.

Congratulations! You've earned 30 EXP!

 _Fuck that_ , she cursed as she barely rolled in time to dodge the paws of another predator. Her chest heaved and she stared it down. It met her gaze unwaveringly and snarled, snapping its jaws at her.

In response, she crouched, planting her feet and then rolling up on them with her sword in front of her. It advanced slower than its predecessors as the game adjusted to what it knew wouldn't work on the player and planned another strategy. "Right, I forgot how badly dad wanted to kill me." She muttered. "Well, come on then! DO IT."

The monstrous creature pounced and she fell to her knees with her sword held at chest level. The blade sank into its chest and she struggled to tear it out through the wolf's side. It whined and spit out mangled snarls. Its claws tore into her stomach, and she saw stars. She barely registered anything but pain as she felt them big into her face, chest, and arms. It desperately wanted to survive.

Congratulations! You've earned 35 EXP!

xx

Items Obtained  
* 3x Tiny Health Potion

Warning: Critical Health

As she lay there, choking on her own breath and staring at the cheerful warning, she wanted nothing more than to punch Kayaba Akihiko in the face. Just one good hit, and then she'd let the rest of the world have him.

"Kagome would you stop daydreaming and get your ass moving?" Diavel yelled, "We need you!"

She groaned, "Five more minutes." As she spoke, she used a health potion – 78 percent health. Definitely not dangerous to go into another fight with 78 health.

"Kagome!"  
"I heard you the first time Mom!"

After standing, she knew why he was so desperate. One of the wolves had gone after Kimiko. Her health was less than fifty percent, while the creature was still in green. She had little Aiko clasped in her arms. Diavel was holding off two wolves, and couldn't get to her.

Not far away, Klein and Tobi were occupied with yet another one. Tobi was on red, but he had a sword in hand. "Tobi, health potion!"  
"I will!"  
"You better."

She was blocked from her brunette friend a large white beast that had to stretch at least twelve feet across. "Look _buddy,_ you do not want to be standing there right now." She snarled, "It's a really _really_ bad idea."

It growled lowly, prowling across the earth. Its claws dug into the gravel and ripped it up in a flurry of dust.

"Hey Diavel! How's this for a controlled environment?"

She rolled forward, and when the wolf launched it landed behind her, but Kimiko was right there. She patted her shoulder once, "You good?"  
"Now I am."

Kagome turned to see the white wolf pacing around her in little half circle again. With Kimiko backing up for protection, she couldn't just roll. And the one that originally had been attacking her friend seemed intent on the new blood. It rushed her.

She activated Slice and the blade lit up, "Use a health potion if you can." Her skill dug into the wolf's neck, and she pulled the sword out to stab into its eye. Another notification appeared to let her know her EXP gained.

"I'm the doctor here."

The white wolf seemed cleverer than the others; it watched distrustfully as she attempted to fake left and carefully maintained its distance. It shifted on its haunches, while it did so, and she suddenly got the impression it was afraid.

" _It's too late for that. You're the 100_ _th_ _floor boss, and the game registers you as a piece of it."_

 _It_ is _afraid of me._ Somehow, it was registering her; she imagined if it wasn't also registering her level, it might have fled.

She kept that in mind as she charged it. It snarled warningly with its ears low on its head, but she paid that no mind. Facing it down made her sure that she was the more dangerous predator. Her sword sank into its hind leg as it tried to escape and she used the traction provided to pull it back towards her.

It struck out with its claws, taking off twenty-five points from her health. She shook loose her sword and pounced on its back; her sword locked around its throat and she pulled it towards herself until the creature shattered.

Congratulations! You defeated White Fang in combat.  
You earned 68 EXP!

xx  
Items Obtained

*White Wolf Pelt

xx  
Quest Unlocked

*Graveyard Gamble – NPC 300yd east, 100yd south

xx  
Congratulations! You've reached level 3!

The onslaught of message was a little overwhelming, and she knew she'd have to find a way to disable them in the future. That appeared to be the last of the wolves – for now- but if so many message boxes had appeared in a chaotic battle it could get someone killed.

Aiko stopped struggling, and Wes started to stand unsteadily. "It's gone."

"Aiko says the clown is gone too." Kimiko told them, "I think the hallucinations are a warning that the pack is near. Someone must have killed the alpha."

Diavel nodded stiffly, summoning a health potion, "We'll have to do it again when the alpha respawns. We should be on our way."

They set off again, this time at a faster pace.

Kagome was fairly certain that Diavel and Klein had levelled as well. So, between the seven of them, they were sure to take down one level five Giant Bee. The smell that plagued the forest grew worse and worse as they moved.

The wolves reappeared, downing Klein and Kimiko with hallucinations. Kimiko cried as her parents screamed in her face, and Klein refused to let them know what he was seeing. Instead, he told them to hurry up and kill the alpha.

It was easier now that she knew what to expect, and if she missed a critical hit -heart, neck, head- her blows did more. She fought beside Tobi, and together they took down five wolves. Wes and Aiko averaged three, and Diavel managed three as well. When the alpha came, Tobi made him their sixth kill.

She ruffled his hair as he glowed, "Did you see that?"  
"You were fantastic little man," she replied, hugging him tightly, "You must be pretty close to leveling after that display."

"42 more EXP!"

She wondered why the amount of experience gained was so high; she remembered the Giant Bees being 25 EXP.

The last time the wolves appeared, she reached level four. Tobi and Diavel had fallen prey to the hallucinogenic, and was beginning to think it picked the two people whose stamina was the lowest at that moment.

After her time in the feudal era, she'd built up quite a bit of endurance, and, after her father had taken her during the beta test, he'd informed her it was the highest base stamina stat in that group.

During the fights, her bar hadn't dropped much more than halfway.

"Look at the light up ahead! We're almost to the exit."

The forest opened into a field of rolling hills that stretched out of sight. They were exactly as she remembered. The ground was littered with flowers for the bees to pollinate, and she could make out the outline of the hive from her position; it was about an hour's walk. Even in the evening light, the grass held a mysterious glow that she knew couldn't be found anywhere else on the levels.

" _What does breadwinner mean daddy?" Kagome sat on her father's lap as he typed up long strings of numbers and letters. He'd told her that those were commands for the quest she'd been begging him to make._

Back then, she'd been so desperate to spend even a second with him. Kayaba Akihiko had always been more invested in his game than in his family. It took her mother pitching a fit and threatening to leave for him to approach her. When he asked for her help with creating the very first quest for SAO, the little girl couldn't say yes fast enough.

She had come to see it during the beta test. The map dropped off just before the forest came into view, and so she'd had to make sure he hadn't taken it out.

If she'd stopped 100 paces before the forest's edge, and walked two hundred paces west, she would have found a large oak tree in a sea of pines with "K & K" carved in the middle. Along with two vows of "I love you".

When she found that tree in beta she could think of nothing else to do but cry. She would always wonder if he left it there because he still meant it, or if he just couldn't be bothered to take it out.

" _The breadwinner brings home food and supplies for the rest of the family."  
"Like mama?" _

_He paused, looking down at the little girl in his lap. She had asked so innocently, "Well, your mother and I both do our part. I suppose the difference is that I don't need to leave the house to win the bread." He tapped her nose, "and that my daughter helps me out."_

 _She hugged him, "You'll put the wolves in won't you? And the bees; the rocks?"_

 _He chuckled, "It'll be just the way you want it. We can work on it together."  
"Promise?"  
"I promise."_

"Wow; this place is gorgeous.' Kimiko said aloud, startling her from her reverie.

Wes, who had seemingly recovered from his earlier, concerning fears, seemed just as awed, "It really is. I wonder if he based any of this off of real world settings."

"He probably did. We should take a mental note of some of the nicer areas and try to find out where their inspirations were from," Kimiko eagerly agreed, "Well, when we get home."

Wes blushed, looking a little uncomfortable as he flashed her a smile.

"Are the giant bees around?" Tobi asked, he looked nervous and a bit put out that he hadn't been able to level in the forest. Kagome was sure he'd be at level three shortly, so she winked at him, mouthing 'you'll be fine'.

"They've probably gone in by now. I'll set our party up with the NPC, if you guys are willing to make a start toward the hive." She pointed to it, and scanned the hills for the quest's NPC. She wasn't far off, so it wasn't long until she found her.

"Would it be alright if I went with? I've never seen a quest started." Tobi told her.  
"I wouldn't mind in the least."

The others agreed to start toward the hive, leaving her and little Tobi to begin the short trek. The NPC was a teenage girl in fanciful clothing whom heaved and huffed as she made her way across the field. As soon as they came into range, she stopped and ran to them. "Miss! Miss, you gotta help me!"

"What seems to be the problem?" was the smooth answer. Tobi looked between them curiously.

The NPC swallowed hard, "My brother ran out on me to go on some crazy adventure for our neighbor's daughter," she spilled, "and, well, I wasn't very kind about the whole thing. I certainly didn't spare him any of my thoughts, ya know." She sighed, "He'll be back tomorrow, and I feel awful. Do you think you could fight off five Giant Bees and bring back some honeycomb; he's always loved it, and he's sure to forgive me if he comes home to some."

"My party is more than happy to help."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Said the NPC, biting her lip, "I don't have enough money to pay more than one." She paused, "And I've been told expressly to only deal with you, Kagome Akihiko."

Kagome froze, "By who – and did they say why?"

"I'm not really sure why. Are you still willing to help me? I'll pay you well for your trouble." The NPC leaned in and whispered low enough that only Kagome could hear her, "I found a weapon in the field; I've never seen anything like it."

Although many questions still circled her brain, she figured that for some reason her father wanted her to get ahold of the mentioned weapon, and had altered the quest to assure it would come into her possession. She was starting to understand why this area wasn't on the map, "Of course. Where can I find the Giant Bees?"

"In the northwest portion of the forest. Be careful though, there's a nasty pack of wolves lurking."

* * *

i luv niki4444

I'm sorry to cut it off there, but so much will happen in the next chapter and I didn't want to keep adding and adding. This chapter's already 20 pages. :D

Anyway, there's a lot of breadcrumbs hidden in this chapter so if you liked it feel free to go back and search for them! I'd love to hear from you guys if you'd be so kind as to leave a review or PM me, especially if you have an inkling of what's to come. I'm also a huge fan of constructive criticism (because let's face it, no matter how many times I go over a chapter there's always one it's in place of an its... :"( ) I'm not trying to beg for reviews or anything like that, but when it's this quiet I get worried that I'm putting in all this time for nothing because what if no one likes it?

Anyway, sorry for rambling. I guess I'm getting a little self conscious :') Regardless, the next update will be out next Friday at the latest! Thanks for reading annndd I hope you enjoyed it. :D

Xx Niki


	4. Visions

**Chapter 4: Visions**

 _i luv niki4444_

* * *

"You're planning to leave us behind." Diavel said quietly. Out of everyone, he seemed the most upset.  
"Yup."

"You can't go off on your own. At least let one of us back you up!"

"You should go with her Dia." Kimiko told him. Immediately, he tried to protest, "I'll be fine. I'll stay out of the forest, and you guys already said wolves are the only aggressives in this area."

Diavel still seemed hesitant, but in the end he was more worried about the level five Giant Bees than he was about a field full of nothing. "Just promise me you'll stay out of the forest."  
"I'll be fine, you need to stop worrying so much."

* * *

Kagome shifted a little as they began to walk into the forest, this time they weren't on the path. It would be more difficult for the wolves to attack them, but also harder to fight back.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before, "So what's the plan after you complete the quest?" she glanced at him, noticing that he'd bunched up his eyebrows. Then, she shrugged.

"I haven't really thought about it. I'll probably head back to the Town of Beginnings; I wouldn't mind hanging out there for a bit."

"Kagome," he paused, "look, I haven't exactly been myself the past few hours. Getting stuck here, Trin dying, all this racing the clock for EXP it's- well you get it."  
"Yeah."

He sighed, "A nap sounds good after this. Maybe when I wake up, I'll be able to wrap my head around everything that's happened today." A wry smile tugged at his lips as he spoke.

Kagome nudged his shoulder, "I'm up for it, and I'm sure the kids can't wait to get home to their parents." Looking up, she saw the moon just barely peeking through the tree tops far above them.

He chuckled quietly, then, "So what's the plan?"  
"I already told you-"

"You've never been one to just sit around K."

She didn't answer him, but she could feel his eyes boring holes into her skull. She shifted their pace and hoped that they would make it there faster. A chanced glance in his direction made her release an exasperated groan, "I don't know why I'm even _thinking_ about having this conversation." She kicked up a rock, "There's a guy I'm hoping to catch up with."

Another moment of silence, and then her friend snorted. She shot him a glare, but he was grinning at her, "Well, well! I never thought I'd see the day!"  
"It's not like tha-"

"My baby girl is growing up!" he slung an arm around her shoulders, and she fought valiantly to shrug him off.  
"Would you stop it!"

"How long has this beacon of love been lit?"

Kagome had never felt more horrified, "Diavel you're so far off from the picture that you think it's a book!"

"So it's more than one guy?"

"It's one, but I lied to him!" she cried. Her face closely resembled a tomato.  
"You didn't tell the poor guy you were pregnant did you?"

"D!"

"Alright alright, I'll bite. What'd you lie about?"

She looked down guiltily, "I pretended to be someone I'm not." The glum answer was probably the truest thing she'd spoken since returning to Sword Art Online.

Her friend fell silent, and they walked that way for a little while. A budding awkwardness was beginning to grow when, "I bet he'll forgive you." Diavel quietly told her, "So long as you tell him why."

Right, she'd walk up to Kirito and say 'Yo buddy! I'm only talking to you because my dad told me that you'd be successful in this game; he knows, 'cause he created it. No biggie – he also trapped you here. Also, just so ya know, I'm the 100th floor boss. If you kill me right now, I'm pretty sure the game end.'

Clearly, that would go over well.

"Or," he continued, "you could not bring it up and let him think that this death game's changed you. What were you pretending to be?"

"Quiet, shy, bashful, and retiring."

Diavel snorted.

"Don't laugh at me."  
"He probably didn't buy it for a second – you aren't any of those things."

"Shut your face."

This time, he actually did laugh. It was the first she'd heard from him since learning of Trin's death. "Alright, alright! Whatever you say bashful."

She rolled her eyes, "Do you ever get tired of being so-" she stopped as the sound of hornet's rose loud and clear. Her guard went up immediately, "that doesn't sound like Giant Bees."

"No it doesn't." Diavel agreed as he swallowed hard.

A lump gathered in her throat as they carefully walked forward, passing three more trees, until they finally found what they were looking for. Giant Killer Wasps, level six. "… This is bullshit."

Diavel grabbed her waist and pinned her to a tree just before its gaze swept over where they had been standing.

"You need to go get Kimiko out of here." Kagome hissed into his ear.  
"I'm not leaving you."

"They're free roaming aggressives."

He hesitated, "She'll teleport to the Town of Beginnings if anything happens. It'll be okay."

"It won't be okay." She let him know. She'd pulled up her quest information, "Breadwinner's changed. I need to kill five Killer Wasps."

At that, Diavel let out a heavy sigh, "Why does Akihiko keep messing with this quest so much? Do you think they'll all be like this?"

She shook her head, "I have no idea, but I think this is why the wolves gave us so much EXP."

The angry hum of the wasp grew louder as it approached them, filling the two gamers with dread.

"I'm only level three," Diavel cursed, "we're going to need a strategy."

"Stick em with the pointy end; how's that for a strategy?" She drew back from the tree, lurching around it until the wasp was in sight. It had drifted not ten feet from them, though fighting it in the thickage would be a problem.  
"That's not a proper strategy."

Kagome equipped a sword skill and thrust her blade through the back of its head, then proceeded to back away as it whipped around with its stinger flailing wildly. She'd only done it twelve damage.

She darted away and its stinger found purchase in a tree close to where she had been standing.

After a moment of deliberation, she would amend that a proper strategy was needed, she lunged for it again, but had to jump to safety before she could be impaled. Her head slammed into a tree; the force knocked the wind out of her and made her see stars.

Consequently her head was spinning as the wasp made for her again. It's hissing buzz founded lethal to her ears, and only added to the queasy knot in her stomach.

She rolled out of the way, throwing her sword out at the last second for an easy strike. The bar barely went down, in fact, the creature's health was on green. It didn't help that the trees were too thick for the type of mobility she both needed and was used to.

In moments like these, she wished that she hadn't applied for the beta test – then she would have never picked up this _stupid_ game. "People like a challenge – I get that. But a game shouldn't make me feel like I'm five hundred years in the past fighting demons," Her sword warmed as it lit up with a skill, she dodged the stinger, then slammed into its base with the skill. It lost another thirteen HP, "again."

She repeated the process and its health entered the very tip of yellow. After which it took another three dodges and skilled strikes to bring it to the bottom of that ugly neon color. Even then, red seemed like a far off dream.

When the creature finally shattered, she let out a relieved sigh.

"That went pretty well." Diavel told her, "Though that stinger did you forty damage in one hit – you might want to get that checked out."

She smiled a tinge, already pulling up a potion, "I got lucky."  
"You just need to get lucky four more times and you're golden…"

Kagome rolled her eyes, the smile not quite gone, "I need a better strategy. And more room."

Her friend positively glowed, "Oh really? If only a dashing genius had told you that before you charged into battle! Maybe you wouldn't have-"

"If only," she interrupted teasingly, "instead I got stuck with you."  
"You can't ruin this for me princess."

They continued to tease each other, stealing laughs in between searching eyes and batted breath. There was a type of tranquility in the air that Kagome hadn't felt around anyone in just over a month.

Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but feel relaxed. It was wonderful to reconnect with an old friend, knowing that even though she wasn't in a position to truly help him, their friendship hadn't started out as a façade.

After another few minutes, they had yet to find a second wasp, and circled around. Time passed by and the grey sky progressively darkened; after a while, Kagome was unable to keep track of how long they'd been searching. Something felt wrong. The first wasp shouldn't have been very far from the rest, and it seemed strange that they hadn't even heard the whisper of a buzz in the soft winds that blew by.

"Well, that's a dungeon if I've ever seen one." Diavel muttered, breaking the stern silence that had long since encompassed them. She looked at where he was pointing and squinted.

Sure enough, to their east two stone columns covered in moss rose above they're heads. In the darkness, they looked like wide, dead trees –or perhaps they would have, if not for the lack of branches and grooves. She should have seen it a mile away, and she sheepishly told Diavel just that.

They passed the columns and headed down the dark stairway that lay in between cautiously. The steps were shaped unevenly, and some were longer than others; it was difficult to discern where the next step would be. It didn't help that they were covered in some sort of slime.

At the bottom, torches burst to life around them in neat sets. Their shadows danced across the wall, and the air was instantly filled with an unnatural hum as they passed the gateway where the dungeon began.

The walls looked like they were formed from grey mud, with holes the size of tennis balls lining them in an organized pattern. It was an underground hive, and the holes must have been where larva had hatched previously. "You know what, I think I'd prefer fighting in the trees…"

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," sighed Diavel, "maybe we can lure them back here, one by one." The words, 'rather than try to fight the whole slew and die' went unsaid."  
"We can hope."

Kagome crept forward, holding a hand out in warning for Diavel to wait. She turned a corner into another long corridor and waved him forward. She was so focused on silently walking down the next hall, that she missed him roll his eyes.

The end of the hall held a set of double doors, and, when she quietly opened them, she found a room filled to the brim with Killer Wasps. They were moving in perfect synchronization around a ginormous bee in the middle – the Queen. She was level ten; not something to trifle with at level four.

With that in mind she wandered back into the otherwise empty corridor and whispered to her friend, "I'm screwed."

Diavel rolled his eyes, "Don't be dramatic. I'm sure we can think of something."

"Nope. I'm done for. Might as well just give up now."

"Idiot."

If he hadn't said it so endearingly, she might have been offended. Instead, he seemed to think she was a puppy throwing a temper tantrum.

Spoil sport. "Well you go out there then."

He did, only to come back with a face devoid of blood flow, "They're circling the Queen rather aggressively."

"Yup."

"When you die," notice the when; this guy claimed to be her friend, "can I take your inventory?"

Kagome forced back a grin and replied deadpan, "Only if you promise it'll go towards keeping Kimiko breathing."

"You can feel assured for every penny."

She shook her head, knowing that if she died her inventory would disappear like everyone else's. The only problem being that she didn't actually believe she would die – he wouldn't let her. "I'd get back if I were you. I'm not sure how this is going to go."

Without another word, but knowing that the stubborn male very likely hadn't budged, she walked back into the active hive. She took a few cautious steps and practically glued herself to the wall.

Then, one deep breath after another she progressed closer to the swarm. Her plan was to equip her sword and catch the attention of one wasp, and then get the hell out of the room with it in hot pursuit.

And maybe that would have worked, if she hadn't caught the attention of two. She crept backwards as fast as possible without making a sudden movement –as difficult as it sounds, mind you- and opened the door without turning around. When the door had closed behind her, she dared to look at the predictably unmoved man and said, "I'd take those steps now if I were you. In fact, run. Run now!"

She grabbed his arm and tore down the corridor as the door burst open, now with three wasps tailing them. Apparently, a third had been angered just by the first two leaving. Great. No fantastic; life was as she'd always wanted.

It was easier to get up the steps with the torches still lit, and proper incentive; they reached the top in record time. Diavel forced her to a stop just beyond the threshold. "On the count of three we split." He told her, as the wasps rounded the corner and made for the stairs. "One, two - Fuck just go!"

Saintly Diavel didn't have to tell her twice.

She leapt over rocks and bushes, dodging trees, and trying her best not to trip on anything that she couldn't see in the dark. Two of the buggers had followed her – hopefully Diavel would find a tree somewhere to climb. Once upon a time, that had been their solution to situations like this.

Kagome jutted out to the right and continued in that direction for about a minute before making another right. The sound of buzzing wasn't quite so fierce after another few minutes as she went back the way she had come, and a swift glance back made her grin. She'd shaken one off. Now, for the plan to commence, "Hey booger brain! This way!" she called. The wasp focused on her angrily, and she took off running more desperate than ever.

When she reached the columns, the torches had died, but she tried not to mind that and ran down the steps despite the danger. Suffice to say, she tripped halfway down – not a good start for her back, or her health bar.

She stood and rubbed at her knee, mumbling, "Well that didn't go according to plan. Ow." A loud buzz alerted her to the wasp that was already sharing the corridor. She barely had time to dodge its sharp stinger.

It seemed impossible though, that one of them had already made it back, and the other was right behind her… the bee in question came down the stairway and she swallowed hard. "Okay Kagome, you got this."

The next few minutes were a blinding rush of rolling, sword skills, dodging, direct hit, health potion, sword skill. Sweat began to pool on her forehead when the first one shattered, but the other was still in yellow. "At least you're almost in red, huh little buddy?" she puffed. Her stamina bar was dangerously low.

"You're doing a little too well."

She stiffened, and the few seconds of distraction led to a stinger stabbing into her abdomen. She nearly screamed from the pain, rolling away and stumbling to get a health potion. Her health, like her stamina, was dangerously low.

She couldn't believe her eyes even with her father stood right in front of her. The wasp was still coming for her, but he was content to remain where he was.

He adjusted his glasses, "I didn't think you'd make it this far."

"Shut up."

Her sword skill successfully lurched into the wasp's head, dragging it into red. Finally.

"You've always been so brave." He told her smoothly, "and look at you now – fighting off creatures two levels higher than you for the good of all."

Kayaba Akihiko would have never said that.

"But you'd like him to, wouldn't you?" he replied scathingly, reading her thoughts. The harsh reflection of his glasses nearly made her miss her well placed roll. She tried to ignore him and the little dig at her pride.

"Shut up." She repeated. She took another vicious stab at the wasp, and felt a familiar wave of pleasure when it burst into pieces.

The silence as she did so was an added bonus, until, "Do you think he actually believed that you went to the Feudal Era?" Her fist clenched, "Do you actually believe…"

"Stop."

"... that he loves you?"

She stopped breathing, meeting his cold gaze. Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest, and her throat had went dry.

There wasn't anything malicious about his stare; in fact there was no emotion at all behind it. The illusion played its part well, putting words from her head into its mouth to fuel whatever it was that scared her the most.

"I'm not here for a psychoanalysis kid." It chuckled, using his mouth to do it, "And I'd watch out for that staircase if I was you."

He warned her just in time for her to leap to the side. Great, another wasp. It died some minutes later, just like all the others. At this moment, with her father's image taunting her from the sidelines, she imagined she could have killed just about anything.

So she was happy when the next came just seconds after it shattered. She launched herself at it, using a volley technique to attack it from each side and then proceeded to kick it –and its stinger- away.

"Why'd you show up?" she spit out bitterly, as 'Akihiko' sent out another barb. She was too busy trying to stay alive to hear his reply.

However, after the damn wasp had finally split into a million pieces, he thoughtfully replied, "I think you're right."

"About what?" she asked doubtfully, eyeing the message that cheerfully popped up on her screen.

Quest Completed!

*500 EXP

*Emerald Bow

*x3 Honey Comb

"I think he really did just forget about that damn tree."

* * *

When Diavel came back, she was a crumbled heap on the ground. Tears had long since dried on her face, and he noticed, disturbingly that her eyes were dull.

"Kagome?"

She frowned at him, a frightening difference from the good-natured smile that she'd worn not forty minutes before. "I need to go." Was all she said – and then she did.

* * *

 _i luv niki4444_

I'M SO SORRY. I'M SO VERY VERY VERY SORRY. D:

I'm going to be completely honest. My computer cord broke a while back, but I had been using my brother's because I didn't want to pay for a new one... well he needed his cord this week. So, I completely messed up. :/ Rest assured that the new cord was ordered two days ago and it should be here by next week. :)

ALSO don't worry about the next chapter. It should come up Friday (it's half typed, and completely written.) but if it doesn't it will definitely be up on Saturday morning. :) It looks like the broski will be out all day tomorrow so I'll probably get free reign of his cord. ;P

Also thank you guys so much for the wonderful feedback! You guys are awesome :D

I hope you all like this chapter and, if you did, let me know! I'd love to hear what you're thinking!

Xx Niki


	5. December 1st

**Chapter 5: December 1st**

 _i luv niki4444_

* * *

 _One Month Later_

* * *

When Kagome woke up that morning, she knew exactly where she was. After a month, the time had long since passed when she would wake expecting to find the grey covers of her prison bed.

Instead, she was wrapped up in the ruddy brown sheets of a cheap inn, and peering out of the window at the soft blue sky as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds.

Even after she'd long since left that inn, she couldn't keep her eyes off of the sky. She walked down the town's dirt roads, and into the fields that surrounded it. The monsters here were much different than in the Town of Beginnings. She fought them calmly, slaying them for a ridiculously low amount of EXP.

After the initial rewards had passed, leveling wasn't nearly as easy as it had been at the start of things. Breadwinner, as it turned out, had been a blessing and a curse. The wolves in the quest had been modified to give out nearly twice the EXP as they had in the Beta, but that only lasted until the quest they guarded was completed.

Meanwhile the other betas had run off to the next towns to seek out the highest quest EXP rewards to complete and move onto others as quickly as possible. The newer players swarmed the mobs rather than quests, and their EXP value had dropped exponentially by the time Kagome had left the others and made it back out into the real world.

The bow that she'd received, while impressive, was impossible to use at her level. It didn't come with arrows, and they weren't sold in any shop that she had come across; it was only after she'd come into contact with a rugged NPC that she'd found answers. The man had been a random encounter, but it was worth it. "That wouldn't happen to be an Emerald Bow, would it?" he'd asked, "You have to craft your own arrows don't you? I heard that somewhere."

The man, who had looked half insane as he tried to reach her, then left as abruptly as he came.

After that, she had begun leveling her Blacksmith abilities like a mad woman, and was currently nearing level nine, while her overall character combat level was sixteen.

She'd always been off the mind that all the little things added up, and as she killed monsters for four EXP or the like, with over a thousand remaining before the next level, she tried to keep that in mind.

* * *

Kagome shifted in her seat; her shoulders were smoothed back and her cloak pinched to hide her face. She was sat in an old coliseum, waiting for things to escalate. Rumor had it that a popular member of the community had found the boss room, and that sparked the meeting that was about to take place.

Everything seemed so hopeless; in the month that they had been in SAO they were still on the first floor, and two thousand people had already died.

The very idea of beating the game had become a running joke around some of the members.

A familiar head of blue hair walked into the coliseum. He was laughing with Kimiko at his side. The sight was enough to make her relax a little more. She regularly checked the Black Castle –which stored the names of the players, dimming when they died- to make sure the brunette was still alive, but she still worried.

Kagome eyed Diavel with a faint smile on her lips, shaking her head. Of course he would be the 'popular member of the community' that figured out the boss room's location. He'd always been a busy body – like her. It's why they initially got on.

It was nice to see Kimiko fitting in so well with the party that he had brought along. They were sitting with a group of three others, and it seemed impossible for two people to look so included in a group yet so wrapped up in each other at the same time.

She froze when another familiar hairstyle settled down in the row in front of her, not two feet from her right. He'd obviously wanted to keep his distance, while also not being too far away from the action.

She eyed Kirito's back, unsure of why she was surprised to see him looking more or less the same. Maybe, it was because she felt like such a different person from who she had been the last time they met. It felt like longer than a month.

She shifted, and her foot began to silently tap the ground.

"Okay! Let's get started people!" called Diavel as he took center stage alone, "Thank you for coming today, my name is Diavel. I like to consider my "job" as Knight."

Most people laughed at his remark. "There's no job system in this game!"  
"You should take this seriously!"  
"Then, is the meeting a joke too?"

Diavel frowned, a stern edge to his gaze. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower." People began to whisper amongst themselves, but he held up a hand, and it ceased, "We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it _is_ possible to beat this game! Everyone present here shares this duty." He looked around at the group, which was a nice turnout but not as many as he would have liked, "Do you all agree?"

The crowd began to whisper again, sending each other uncertain glances and then they gradually started to clap and nod. One by one, they agreed to follow their hopes rather than give into despair.

"All right! Then let us begin our planning. First, divide into parties of six. An ordinary party has no chance against a floor boss. We'll need to form a raid group using multiple parties."

Kagome felt a cold flush down her spine, and eyed Kirito, who seemed panicked by the thought. He was looking around urgently and his breathing pattern had changed.

 _Diavel has invited you to party_

 _Accept_  
 _Decline_

"... thought we should party up, along with the other girl sitting up there. Just for this fight?" Kirito had slid down to another cloaked figure in the same row as him, who sat not far to her left.

She eyed the party invitation, which seemed to blink as though it was becoming annoyed by her neglectance of it. Kirito turned to her, a smile still on his face from his recent social conquest; she hit Decline. "Hey…"

"Party?" she asked, smiling softly from behind the safety of her cloak.

He blushed, probably realizing she had overheard, "Ah, yeah." She accepted his invitation, ducking her head.

"Um…" he paused, "your name doesn't appear?" The names of party members were supposed to appear above their health bars, but Kagome had come to realize that hers didn't show. Probably because she was supposed to have a name like "Kagome the Destroyer" or something like that.

"It's a special skill," she murmured instead of saying so, and quietly stood to sit next to Asuna, the cloaked girl who was also a member of their party. She barely saw Kirito shrug before he sat beside her.

"Have you formed your parties?" Diavel asked, clapping his hands, "Then-"

"Just a second!" called a whiny, deep voice. A rugged man with short brown hair stood at the top of the coliseum and he hopped down quickly to land in the arena. He was on the shorter side and bulky.

"The name's Kibaou." He told them in that self-important, cocky tone that had irritated her during her time with Inuyasha, "I wanna say something before we take on the boss."

"Of course he does." Kagome muttered, and Kirito faintly snorted beside her. She was further surprised when he hit her softly with his elbow. The action had been, dare she say, playful.

Huh.

"Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far." She went stock still, forgetting to breathe for a moment as she stared him down from her place in the stands. _How does he know?_ She was pretty careful about keeping to herself, remembering that her name had been featured in a few articles about her father, and his wikia page.

Diavel frowned, "Kibaou," he replied lowly, "are you referring to the beta testers?"

The small man turned to him, "Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started the beta guys ditched us beginners. They all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get better. And then, they just ignored the rest of us."

His eyes flashed and he turned to wave his fist at the crowd, "I'm sure someone here was in the beta. They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money that they've hoarded. Otherwise, we can't trust them to protect us as party members, and they shouldn't trust us!"

Kagome closed her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. He was just one of those. He didn't actually know anything.

"That's not true!" cried a childish voice. Kibaou scoffed as a small, adorable boy slipped from the stands. Hidden behind three other members of Diavel's party, Kagome hadn't even seen Tobi. She swallowed hard, searching his body for injuries that she knew she wouldn't find. He was okay.

"The day this _game_ started I was taken in by a beta tester. She got me to level two, and when we reached that level, we joined a group of beta testers and the new players that they too had taken in." he didn't look at Diavel once during his rant, though he must have wanted to. Kagome felt a surge of pride for the young boy, though she had always been proud of him.

"We completed a quest together, and they showed us everything we needed to know to pass onto our friends, and those friends continued to pass on that knowledge. You can't stand there and tell me that the beta testers never did anything for newer players!" There were tears in his eyes as he shouted the last sentence, and she wanted to run to his side. _Oh Tobi, thank you. You sweet, sweet little boy._

But he wasn't such a little boy anymore; his eyes were older, and his stance more confident.

Kibaou seemed at a loss at the sight of his tears, but he was interrupted before he could comment, "May I speak?" asked a man of dark complexion, great height, and bulging muscles. He stood from his front row seat and walked to stand beside Tobi. He rested one giant hand on the boy's shoulder. "My name is Egil. Kibaou, tell me if I have this right.

"You're saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died, and that they should take full responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Is that correct?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Kibaou's face, and had he not been such an arse Kagome might have felt sorry for him. Egil, whoever he was, seemed a force to be reckoned with, and he'd already lost the crowd's heart with Tobi's display. "Y-Yeah."

Egil smoothly took out a brown book, "You received this guide-book didn't you? It was provided for free at the item store."  
"Sure I did… why?"  
"It was compiled from information given by the beta testers."

Those who had remained riled after Tobi's speech gasped, "Seriously?"

Egil turned to face them, "Listen. Quite a few beginners were taken under the wings of beta testers, and that knowledge was used to spread to even more players – but I understand that that was a thing of chance. However, everyone had equal access to this information, and even still, many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was what we could learn from their deaths, and how that can help us defeat the Boss."

Kibaou glared, relenting, and they both sat down in the front row as Tobi shuffled back to Kimiko's side. She pulled him into a gentle hug; Diavel took center stage once more.

"Alright then, can we resume? The latest edition of the guide-book has been issued, and it contains information on the boss. According to it, the Boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is guarded by assistants known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one enters red he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwar. His attack pattern changes as well.

"This concludes the briefing. Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster, and whoever receives an item keeps it. Any objections?"

No one objected, but Kagome did lean forward in her seat a little. Diavel, as always was up to something. It was obvious from that satisfied smile, and the little glint in his eye.

"Okay, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. See you there!"

After the speech ended, everyone was gathering around Diavel, and she felt a small lump gathering in her throat. He knew she was there – he'd invited her to join his party after all. That probably meant if Kimiko and Tobi didn't already know, they would soon.

Kirito took her hand, tugging on it to catch her attention. She focused on him, and he quickly drew back his hand, "Asuna's leaving." He said hesitantly, 'are you ready to go?' his face asked.

"Then we should probably get a move on." She took his hand again, startling the blushing boy, and pulled him from his seat.

* * *

Asuna was gone. She'd disappeared to go off on her own as soon as possible, the other girl didn't seem rude, she just wanted space. Kagome could respect that.

A month ago she had done the same.

She didn't blame the girl for needing to collect her thoughts, but doing so had left her alone with Kirito.

He was different than she remembered him being. He made teasing comments, tried to coerce the hood from her head, and made no move to take his hand back from hers. She wasn't sure why she continued to hold it so tightly, but she was never-the-less thankful that he didn't mind.

And yet he was still that quiet kid that she remembered. The type that didn't have a lot to say until something really piqued their interest, and didn't seem to relax for a good portion of time after that. It was a good kind of silence.

"So what's your name?" Kirito asked finally. It surprised her how long it had taken to get to that. She didn't say anything as she decided how to approach the subject, but was at a loss. Would he be upset that she hadn't told him her name sooner – it was inevitable that he'd find out.

He took her silence for anger, and hurriedly replied, "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude!"

She laughed, "It's not a rude question Kirito… I'm just trying to decide how to answer it." She added hesitantly. He tilted his head.  
"Why are you hiding?"

She had her reasons, but only one pertained to him. She took a deep breath and slowly pulled down her hood.

Kirito, for his part, was having a difficult time understanding the girl at his side. She shifted from being comfortable to having her walls up in an instant.

Yet, she held his hand like it was an anchor keeping her at his side. Just like she had a month ago. He'd always been perceptive; he recognized her sweet voice, though it sounded more mature than he remembered.

He wasn't dense. He knew who was sitting beside him, he had known before he'd taken her hand at the coliseum. He just wanted to know why she was hiding her face.

He wasn't surprised at all when she pulled down the hood cloaking her face. The high cheekbones, big blue eyes, a thin, button nose. She looked away from him and her inky black hair shielded that face from sight. She was just as beautiful as he remembered.

"Kagome." He felt a twinge of relief, despite having had a solid idea of who she was. Seeing her again eased the worry that had been eating at him since he abandoned her – and he wouldn't forgive himself for that easily.

After he'd realized she wasn't following him he thought about going back, but Klein promised him that he'd find her. And he had been too panicked to see the mistake he was making in walking away.

He saw it every day after though. The girl he had left behind wasn't built for this world; it was too harsh. She was too sweet.

He could see that girl reflected in the eyes of this one, but she wasn't the same as he remembered. It was in the set of her jaw and the glow in her eyes as she waited for a proper response.

So he pulled her into a tight hug.

"You don't seem surprised." She mumbled against his neck.  
"I had an idea."

She released his hand to wrap her other arm around his shoulders. "How?" He knew she was searching for a response that made sense, but he couldn't think of one that didn't sound as corny as, 'Because I missed you.'

Yeah right. Something about her caught his attention, but he had to keep in mind that she was the girl he left behind. She didn't want to hear any of that.

And she didn't.

Kagome wasn't sure how he'd known it was her, but as the silence carried on, she decided she didn't care. Maybe she would ask again tomorrow. "Do you know Asuna too?" she teased, releasing him to nudge his shoulder.

Kirito frowned, seemingly lost in his thoughts, "No. Do you?"  
"Nope."

He released her, she stood, "Why don't we practice in the fields? We can grab Asuna and go."

"We won't have to go far. She's right there." Kirito looked past her and nodded, "but she doesn't look in the mood to join us."

They walked to the bench Asuna was sitting on, and the girl, who was focused on staring the fountain in front of her into the ground, didn't notice them. "Can we sit down?" Kirito asked her.

Asuna glanced at them, nodded, and slid to the side to make room. From there he gifted each a jar of cream from a quest he'd done called "The Heifer Strikes Back" and offered to help them complete it.

Kagome shook her head, "I've already completed it, but thanks Kirito. I'll make it up to you." By compensating him either a jar of cream or some honeycomb – she did have a nice strawberry that had to be made into jelly before it spoiled. Maybe she could give him the product of that.

Meanwhile Asuna ignored the new jar in her inventory, "I didn't come here for good food."

"So why are you here then? If not for good food?"

Asuna hesitated, "So I can still be me. I'd rather stay myself until the very end than sit and rot away in an inn back in the first town. Even if I get killed by a monster. I don't want to lose to this game… to this world, no matter what."

Kirito frowned, eating the rest of his bread and cream. "I wouldn't want a party member dying on me… so at the least don't die tomorrow. Either of you." His tone turned stern and he focused a heavy gaze on Kagome.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm more than safe. I'm more worried about the two of you." She huffed, and with that said stood to leave. The exit was probably interpreted as angry, but she was more interested in sitting closer to the fountain than where they were. The sky had darkened and she knew that it would look gorgeous up close.

"Kagome!" she stopped abruptly as Diavel appeared out of seemingly nowhere and picked her up off the ground to swing her in a hug. "I'm so glad you're alive."

She hugged Diavel back tightly, and he set her down. "I told you I'd be fine on my own. I've always been a solo player."

He pulled back, "I know, I know… but the way you ran off – what the hell happened in that dungeon? You had everyone worried sick."  
"I'm fine D."

She took a step back, and he sighed while running his fingers through his long bangs, "Well at least tell me why you refused my party invitation? You didn't run off because of me did you?" Partly, but she wouldn't tell him that.

"Of course not you narcissist," she teased, poking his shoulder to let him know she didn't mean it, "I just thought those two could use more help; everyone else is in parties of six."  
"Well they certainly got it. They don't need six with you on their side."

"Are you being sarcastic?" she narrowed her eyes with a goofy grin as he fought to remain deadpan.  
"Of course not. You're a badass bi-"

"Shhhh, the children could hear you." She replied, looking over his shoulder. She was still smiling, but less so now that Tobi was cautiously making his way toward them. She felt a stab of guilt when he avoided her eyes. _I didn't even say goodbye to him._ She regretted, and a second later, _Didn't he say he was in a big group? Why's he with Diavel?_

He stopped beside said man and fiddled with his menu, then,

 _Tobi has invited you to Party_  
 _Accept_  
 _Decline_

She stared at the invitation, at him, then back.

"I want to join you."

Diavel sighed, "Tobi we've talked about this."

"Kagome wouldn't let anything happen to me." Tobi shot back, looking stormier than she remembered him. They'd obviously talked about whatever Diavel claimed they had 'talked about' a few times – and the kid looked sick of it.  
"She doesn't have time to keep an eye on you. She's already short on party members, and who knows if they're capable-"

" _I'm_ capable." He countered.

She accepted the invitation, "He'll be fine D," she said calmly. Tobi grinned smugly and Diavel turned angry eyes onto her, "He's a tough kid, and I know one of the members of my party. He's more than capable. Besides, Tobi's been a good fighter from level two." She clapped a hand on his shoulder and once again assured, "He'll be fine."

Diavel relaxed, albeit slowly. "Alright, alright. I don't need both of you mad at me – I guess. You guys want to grab some food before we go down for the night?"

"I was actually just about to head out for some last minute EXP." Kagome confessed, Tobi beamed.  
"Can I came with?"

She grinned, and he returned it. "Is that even a question? Come on, I'll introduce you to the party." Diavel's face fell and she pulled him into a fierce hug; his response was almost bone crushing, "Oh come on D. We'll grab something after the victory tomorrow."  
"We better; how's sundown?"

"Okay." She laughed, patting his back and stepping away. "It'll be like old times."

They said their goodbyes and she ruffled Tobi's hair. He seemed to have relaxed, "You ready to meet our partners in crime kid?"  
"Yeah."

With that said, she took his hand and turned around. She hadn't gotten far before Diavel stopped her, and her party members hadn't moved while she was gone. She waved sheepishly when she realized that at least one of them was staring at her.

"Hey guys, this is Tobi. It's alright if he joins our party right?" Tobi ducked a little into her side adorably.

If they originally had protests, his nervous smile made it more difficult to voice them. Kirito smiled, "What level are you?" it was the first time anyone had been asked, but for a good reason.  
"Twelve."

"I'm thirteen." Kirito told him, obviously impressed, "Those beta testers really did help you out."

Kagome cleared her throat before anyone else could have their level questioned, "Right, well, who wants to get in some late night training?"

Tobi's eyes positively shined.

* * *

"Let's do it over again. Our leftovers are supposed to target the Boss's helpers; the Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"I know," Asuna murmured.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their pole axes up. The second I do, you three switch in."

Asuna frowned, "Switch?"

Kirito's eyes widened, "Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?"

"Yes."

* * *

Diavel stood in front of the door and faced everyone. "Listen up guys, I have only one thing to say." He looked into each and every face before smiling, "Let's win!" That being said, he pushed open the door.

The room, though massive, was dark to the people creeping in. It wasn't until every person had made it into the room that the light flowed in and the door slammed shut.

The room was a kaleidoscope of: greens, pinks, blues, yellows, and more. It was a startling, near blinding shift. The boss monster leapt down from his throne to land heavily on the forever-changing floor. His weight caused mini quakes that left the players on unsteady feet.

He roared, and a red diamond appeared above his head – as well as his name and health bars.

Lastly, the minions jumped out from behind long columns and excitedly lurched from one foot to the other in preparation for their attack on the players. There were only six.

"Commence attack!" Diavel shouted, and drew his sword. The players that surrounded him leapt forward, screaming out battle cries as they did.

As the attack went on, Diavel called out orders.

Kagome's party was in charge of keeping the Sentinels off of him, and the others, while they went in to attack the boss.

She bounced in place in preparation, and when Kirito yelled for a switch she shot forward like lightning.

It was one of the most stunning things that Kirito had ever seen. The Sentinel broke into pieces, tearing off Asuna's cloak in the process.

He stared for a moment, taking in the two girls whom he'd thought were beginners. _They're so fast; I didn't even see them move until the Sentinel was dead. And Asuna…_ Well, Asuna was just gorgeous.

He glanced back over at Kagome. She was just as beautiful, but the two were complete opposites.

Kirito shook off his reverie and switched in to fight off an enemy that got a little too close to Asuna for his liking.

"Kagome, move!" Diavel suddenly yelled, and both Kirito and Asuna whirled around to check on their party member. Tobi, who had been left forgotten, rushed forward to help.

Kagome moved to the side in a flash and had her long, black sword embedded deeply in the Sentinel's flesh before anyone could react properly. Its life ended in an explosion of red sparks.

Tobi was at her side in an instant, "Kagome what was that?" he asked fearfully.

"I'm fine guys. I was just distracted," she shook her head in shame, "Diavel you have to get back to the boss."

Diavel stopped him approach hesitantly and backtracked, throwing out worried glances over his shoulder as he did.

He issued another attack, and someone landed a blow that brought it down to its fourth and final health bar to red. All the players retreated while the boss threw down its weapons.

"Looks like that guidebook was right." Kibaou grinned smugly.

"Stand back!" Diavel called, rushing forward, "I'll go!"

Kagome frowned, _What is he thinking? We were supposed to surround it with the entire group…_ her eyes widened with realization, and then horror when the boss took out its final weapon.

 ** _It wasn't a Talwar. It was a No-Dachi._**

"Diavel! Get back; it's changed!" she screamed, running as fast as she could to reach him in time.

The Boss jumped into the air and landed behind Diavel; its landing caused the earth to shake once again and Diavel fought to stay on his feet.

He stared death in the face as the No-Dachi came neared his chest, too quickly to dodge… but then he didn't have to.

He closed his eyes in time for a light breeze, and for the ring of swords connecting to reach his ears. And he opened his eyes to find Kagome in front of him, with her feet noticeably slipping backwards. Her sword was barely holding under the pressure from the Boss's attack.

"Kagome," he whispered, barely able to over the dryness of his throat, "Thanks."  
"I'd say shit hit the fan. We're screwed."

"We should probably just give up." He told her, the ghost of a smile scathed across his lips. Her sword cracked.

And then she was saved, just like she had saved him. Kirito appeared from their left and slashed the monster's side. "Switch!"

Kagome released a war cry, and charged in. She dodged its attack and follow up slash, then leaped onto its arm and achieved a critical slash across its chest before calling out, "Switch!"

Kirito was on it again, and slashed its arm fiercely. He retreated to dodge a strike.

Kagome saw Diavel move and turned in the last second to tackle him to the ground. He'd picked up her nearly broken sword. Kagome didn't have to see the Boss to know it was behind her raising its weapon, but she couldn't move. Diavel couldn't die.

How lucky was she, when Egil stepped in to defend them along with the rest of his party. Kirito helped her from the floor. She ignored him, and shoved Diavel backward when he stood. "What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

He avoided her eyes, "I wanted the special reward."  
"Why? To hang it on your wall of accomplishments?" she pushed him again before he could protest, "No item is worth your life, you _stupid asshole._ " Didn't he know how much he meant to people? How much he meant to Kimiko, and Tobi, and his guild, and _her_?

She didn't notice the tears until Diavel was gently scrapping them away, "I'm sorry. I won't go in again, I promise Kagome."  
"I don't trust you right now." She mumbled, gripping her sword tightly. "Tobi watch him."

Tobi, who had come to scold the man as well, uncertainly blocked him from the battle. He was tiny, but she knew he'd pull his weight.

She charged in, just in time to save Kirito –who had been trying to save Egil- and he smiled gratefully, "One more strike. Asuna, Kagome! We do this together."

The girl's nodded and ran in with this stabbing and chopping until finally Kirito got in a slash that was beyond the point of fatality.

It shattered into a rainbow of colors and everyone erupted into cheers.

Everyone but the party who had defeated it.

Congratulations! Appeared from the flurry of red sparks brought on by the boss's death, and Kagome already vulnerable from the near loss of her best friend stared at it, feeling ill. _Will that appear when they kill me? Will the sparks just keep coming from my corpse until they can bring themselves to leave the room?_

"We did it!"

Kagome pushed herself off of her knee and offered a hand to Kirito, whom had been in a similar position. He took it with a nod.

 _Congratulations! Each player in your party receives:  
*500 EXP_

"Good work." Asuna said, and they both turned around to find her smiling with Egil, who nodded to Kirito.  
"That was splendid swordsmanship. Congratulations. This victory belongs to you."

"No…" Kirito shook his head as the room's contents cheered him on.

"Why?" Kibaou suddenly yelled, getting the attention of everyone. "Why didn't you say anything? You nearly got Diavel killed!"

"It looked to me like they were trying to save him?" Someone muttered. "And it worked, so what's the big deal?"

"Didn't you see?" he sneered, "Those two knew that technique the boss used. If either of you had said something up front, he wouldn't have been in danger in the first place. You're lucky he's alive."

There were whispers amongst the gathered players and they now eyed the two players in question distrustfully.  
"They must be beta testers. That's how they knew all the boss's attack patterns!"  
"They knew, but they didn't tell us." Someone else said bitterly.  
"Other beta testers are here too right? Come out!"

Kirito frowned, _This is bad. At this rate…_ he gulped.

That's when terrible laughter filled up the room, every occupant turned, including a stunned Kirito.

Kagome got up with a flourish. "Beta tester? I wish you wouldn't compare us to those newbies."

"What?"

"Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners." Kirito said, getting onto what she was doing and standing himself. "They didn't even know how to level up. You guys are better than they are!"

"But we're not like them." Kagome finished and they began walking toward where they knew they could enter the next level. "I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test and he was right behind me."

"The reason we knew the boss's skills, is because we fought monsters with katana skills on floors far above us."

Kagome smiled darkly, "We know a lot more. Way more than any information broker."

Kibaou took a step back. "W-What? That's way worse than a beta tester. You're cheating! You're cheaters!"

"Cheaters and beta testers! They're beaters!"

Kirito grinned sinisterly, "Beaters. I like it, don't you Kagome?"  
"That's right… we are beaters. The only two in existence. From now one, don't confuse us with the other testers."

Kirito, who had been messing with his items, selected his new Cloak of Midnight. Then, the two headed up the stairs for the next level.

"Wait!" Asuna called running to get to where they were. "You called my name when we were fighting."

"Sorry for using just your first name. Or did I mess up the pronunciation?" Kirito asked.

"Where did you learn it?"

"You can see another HP Gauge under yours right? Isn't something written next to it?"

"Ki...ri..to... Kirito? Is that your name?"

"Yeah."

She paused a moment before blushing with a small laugh. "Oh, it's been there all this time!"

Kirito looked down at her solemnly. "You'll be really strong. So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down. There's a big limit to what you can do as a solo player."

"Then, what about you?"

Kirito moved forward another step before disbanding the party.

Kagome moved a little closer and put her hand on his arm before turning back to the other girl. Diavel was standing in front of the angry players; yelling for them to calm down. Tobi looked at her sadly. "Bye, Asuna, Diavel, Tobi."

With that they both walked into the door that opened for them.

* * *

 _i_ _luv_ _niki4444_

I'M SORRY HE'LL DIE LATER. HE NEEDS TO BE PROPERLY DEVELOPED FI- *is shot*

Written before Diavel's outcome: Guys I can't tell you how hard this choice is. I've read over my outline, the original Tainted Light, and this story three times just trying to decide whether or not Diavel will die here. I don't think I can do it just yet; I think it needs to happen later on in the story if at all. The main reason being that he's become very close to my heart, and to Kagome. I'm trying to create a good amount of bonds between her and other characters so that the 100th floor is even more of a party (and yes, the 100th floor is completely designed, as are the monsters. I'm so excited xD)

Thank you guys for all the reviews! I love reading and responding to them so THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D It's great to hear that everyone's liking it so far ^^

I hope you guys liked this chapter (Its 24 pages, look :DD Looookkk) and if you did, let me know! I'd love to hear what you thought! Do you think I should have killed off Diavel this early on, or do you agree that there's a lot more he could be used for?

Xx Niki


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